<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>My Greatest Creation (Was You) by PadawanNerd</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25957963">My Greatest Creation (Was You)</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/PadawanNerd/pseuds/PadawanNerd'>PadawanNerd</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Samurai Jack (Cartoon)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, AroAce Samurai Jack, Aromantic, Asexual Character, Banter, Battle, Bittersweet Ending, Blood and Injury, Blood and Violence, Canon Rewrite, Canon-Typical Violence, Custody Battle, Dysfunctional Family, Everyone Needs A Hug, Family Bonding, Family Feels, Father-Daughter Relationship, Fatherhood, Fights, First Aid, Fix-It of Sorts, Friendship, Gen, Graphic Description, Guilt, Hallucinations, Happy Ending, Hearing Voices, Hopeful Ending, Hugs, Imagery, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Jokes, Long Lost/Secret Relatives, Love, Meeting the Parents, Memory Loss, Mental Health Issues, Mental Instability, Names, Needles, No Romance, No Sex, Old Friends, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Parenthood, Rescue, Samurai, Samurai Jack Season 5, Season/Series 05 Spoilers, Shapeshifting, Some Humor, Spoilers, Studio Ghibli References, Suicidal Thoughts, Suicide Attempt, Swearing, Swordfighting, Symbolism, Tags Contain Spoilers, Teaching, Time Travel, Trauma, Yeah that's right, bites, samurai dad</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 08:34:30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>20,559</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25957963</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/PadawanNerd/pseuds/PadawanNerd</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“She’s fifty years younger than you, babe. She’s young enough to be your daughter… now ain’t that a scary thought, babe?”</p>
<p>In which Jack comes to the conclusion that Ashi is actually HIS daughter from an encounter with a certain green-skinned woman from long ago. Confusion, hilarity, and awkward dad bonding moments ensue.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Ashi &amp; Samurai Jack, Ikra &amp; Samurai Jack, Samurai Jack &amp; Scotsman (Samurai Jack)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>41</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Jack Vs. The Daughters of Aku</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hello and welcome to Samurai Dad hours, I'm your host PadawanNerd and I will be updating every day.</p>
<p>I’ll leave it up to the reader to decide whether Jack is actually Ashi’s father in this or whether it’s all in his head; what matters is that HE believes it, and Ashi comes to believe it too, which means they’ll act differently towards each other than they did in canon. There’ll be none of that kissing nonsense, for starters. In fact, there are no romantic or sexual relationships shown in this fic AT ALL. Wait, it’s all platonic and familial? Always has been. But I’ve still tagged ‘Love’ because love is not exclusive to sexual or romantic relationships. </p>
<p>(Also, what is it with me and the weirdly specific niche of “Awkward angsty mentally ill Asian dad attempts to bond with angery daughter whose other parent is a shape-shifting tentacle creature and/or an evil amoral god-being”? If I had a nickel for every time I’d done this, I’d have two nickels, which isn’t much, but it’s weird that it happened twice.)</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The first thing Jack notices when the masks start to come off is how <em>young</em> these girls are. They can't be older than 20. He himself is somewhere between seventy and eighty, if one does not count the millennia since his actual birth. He has lived long enough that he could be this girl's father, had life gone differently for either of them.</p>
<p>And he has killed her.</p>
<p>He stares down at the blood leaking from her neck, the bright red seeping where it should be black oil, thick calibration fluid, where veins and joints take the place of wires and hinges. A human.</p>
<p>Bad Samurai sneers at him. He’s casually leaning against the stone wall, arms folded. “Well, you finally did it. You finally murdered a human being. Congratulations.”</p>
<p>“Jackie, babe-<em>y</em>,” croons an ingratiating vision of Scaramouche, from the other side. “She’s fifty years younger than you, babe. A child. She’s young enough to be your daughter… now ain’t <em>that</em> a scary thought, babe?”</p>
<p>Jack stares, stares at the blood. “I did not want to kill her. I did not…”</p>
<p>“Course you didn’t,” smirks Bad Samurai. “But you did.”</p>
<p>“I have never met a woman with such drive and tenacity,” remarks Jack sadly. “And such skills with weaponry.”</p>
<p>Dream Scaramouche smirks. “Now that’s a lie, babe, and you know it. What about that Ikra chick, babe? Now there was a woman with some za-za-<em>zazz</em>, if ya know what I mean, babe.”</p>
<p>The footsteps echo down the passageway, closer, ever closer.</p>
<p>“Please…” Jack shakes his head. “Just… go away, both of you. They are coming.”</p>
<p>“Boop-de-doop, scoop-de-doop, all right, bye…” Dream Scaramouche strolls off, verbalising to himself. “I’m only a hallucination anyway, babe… Oh, but why don’t you use that knife of mine?”</p>
<p>Jack blinks and stares at the knife, the little blade with the ribbon on it. There’s a button on the handle, and he presses it: the blade splits.</p>
<p>Harmonic resonance. Special frequencies. Jack shakes his head and taps the knife on the wall, once, twice, three, four times, over and over until the hallway is ringing and ringing and –</p>
<p><em>Run</em>, says the little voice of instinct, and he runs.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The next few days – weeks? – are a muddle to him. He hovers in and out of consciousness, pushing himself to keep moving, to escape, to hide. He thinks that a wolf takes care of him, or he takes care of a wolf. Somehow he remains alive, subsisting on what he can find as his stab wound heals. He begins to become more lucid. The Omen still follows, when he is having an episode. He builds up his strength. Tries not to think about the red and the blood.</p>
<p>(He dreams of a wolf princess, a princess of white and red. He dreams of running on four paws. He dreams of a black, thick infection, travelling up his arm.)</p>
<p>Remembers his father, and the choices he made.</p>
<p>They are coming for him. He can sense it, almost, can see their black-shadow shapes flitting through the forest below from his vantage point. The snow begins to fall.</p>
<p>He finds a place to meld into the light. He no longer has a gi to turn into a white shozoku, no longer has anything but his own training to rely on. All he can do is become one with the snow, one with the forest until the shadows arrive with their horns and their masks. Little Aku-children. Little girls, trapped under the mask of Aku.</p>
<p>Little girls with weapons.</p>
<p>“The decisions that you make and the actions that follow are a reflection of who you are,” says his father’s memory through his lips. “Leave now and live… or stay, and face your destiny.”</p>
<p>Little, deadly girls with weapons.</p>
<p>Black shadows flit through the white, white covers over the black, weapons fly, hands and legs and arms dance through the air, the white faces move on black bodies on white snow until there is no way to tell how many there are, which one belongs with which weapon. Red bursts from one, two, three, and still there are more – or one, or some greater number. Red, red, on the ground, from their bodies, well-trained as they clearly are, but they are not fighting for their lives, they are fighting for <em>his</em> life, and that makes all the difference.</p>
<p>Someone told him a joke once. What’s black and white and red all over?</p>
<p>Aku, he said. Although he is also green.</p>
<p>No, duh, a penguin with sunburn. A panda in the blender. A newspaper.</p>
<p>Today, the answer is: the forest.</p>
<p>There is one left. He’s not sure entirely how it happened. Or, perhaps he is, and he doesn’t want to think about it. She is only black and white. Her kusarigama swings back and forth in the breeze. The branch beneath them creaks.</p>
<p>He fights. It is her choice.</p>
<p>She falls. That, too, is a result of her choice.</p>
<p>The branch breaks. That… he had not counted on.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Jack and the Daughter of Ikra</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>In which Jack jumps good... to conclusions, that is.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>He wakes up in the snow. This is not a particularly unusual occurrence. The crows mock him, a murder crying murder. This is less usual.</p>
<p>The girl wakes up too, and shouts abuse at him (again), tries to murder him (again), gets tangled up in her own kusarigama (for the first time). He looks at her, dangling from the tree, kicking back and forth towards him fruitlessly.</p>
<p>“Good afternoon,” he says, politely. “How are you?”</p>
<p>“DIE,” she replies. “I will undo the evil that is <em>you</em>, Samurai!”</p>
<p>“You are very troubled and very confused,” he tries. “I have met machines that are programmed with such hate, but… never a human. I wonder…”</p>
<p>The opinion of humans, he finds, or really any sapient organic creatures, can often be changed or reasoned with. People can learn, change, adapt. With the right guidance, with a helping hand. She can be convinced that Aku is the evil one.</p>
<p>“Listen, my little friend –” he begins. And then the ground opens up beneath him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>And there they are. Stuck in the belly of a gigantic beast. <em>Again</em>. At least this one doesn’t stink of rotten eggs, or contain a bellyful of broken wishes and dreams. He has strapped the girl to his back with the chain of the kusarigama, and is attempting to find his way out of the beast and onto dry land.</p>
<p>“The samurai,” she laughs, “is dead! Dead, dead, dead, finally dead! Locked in a beast to starve to death for all eternity!”</p>
<p>“Perhaps,” he replies.</p>
<p>“Aku’s glory and victory shall be eternal! His greatness knows no bounds, his –"</p>
<p>"Aku is <em>evil</em>!”</p>
<p>“He is not!”</p>
<p>“He is vile, manipulative, disgusting –” Jack slashes at the nearest inhabitant of the giant creature’s gut with a makeshift sword. Every blue-blooded beast slain is a point against Aku. But she is not listening. She does not listen. Bad Jack sneers at him from the side-lines.</p>
<p>“By the way… What is your name, uhh, small, pointy, murder child?“ Jack asks when he is done, more out of politeness than any real interest. "Ah, do you even have one?"</p>
<p>She snarls and kicks fruitlessly against his back, an infantile tantrum. "I am not a child! I am the one who will bring your head to the throne of Aku! I am the one whose name will be proclaimed across the galaxy - the universe! You will not escape my wrath, you –”</p>
<p>Jack sighs and adjusts the chains. "Very well. Am I permitted to know the name of the woman who will finally kill me?"</p>
<p>"No," she growls, and goes back to kicking him. This is going to be a long walk.</p>
<p>“You know,” starts Jack again after a while, thoughtfully, “you remind me somehow of a woman I once met. Ikra. Of course, she turned out to be Aku in disguise, but…” He hesitates. “You are not Aku in disguise, are you?”</p>
<p>“I am a true daughter of Aku! He is my master and protector, the Lord of my life, the very breath in my lungs! He created and adores me from afar! He is –”</p>
<p>“…Guess not,” concedes Jack. “Even Aku would hesitate to worship himself <em>that</em> much. Although… you do still look like her. Apart from the green skin, of course. Hmm.”</p>
<p>A few moments of silence, sulky from the girl and contemplative from Jack as he steps carefully through the innards of the gigantic creature. There’s something about the way she said that. It’s sticking in his mind, and he can’t let it go. Not after all this time.</p>
<p>“…Daughter of Aku, eh? Tell me,” he says suddenly, “What does your mother look like?”</p>
<p>“Why would I tell you?” sneers the girl. “Accursed foul wretch that you are, you do not need to know the origins of she who will bring you down –”</p>
<p>“Yes, yes, you will murder me forthwith, I have no doubt.” Jack rolls his eyes. “I ask merely out of curiosity. Was she about so high, green skin, dressed all in black?”</p>
<p>“<em>I</em> am covered all in black,” the girl points out. “Besides, Mother never showed us her face. She wore the sacred Mask of White Death, just like my sisters and I did.” She spits. “Until <em>someone</em> had to go and ruin all our masks, of course.”</p>
<p>“I apologise.” Jack stops suddenly and hoists the girl off his back, setting her down on the nearest unidentifiable lump. Slowly, he begins probing at her face, tipping it first one way, then the other.</p>
<p>“Hey! Unhand me, you – you – ugh!” The girl tries to kick out, but is hindered by the fact that Jack has already tucked her legs underneath her. “What do you think you’re doing?”</p>
<p>“Let’s see…” He peers into her face thoughtfully. “Hm. You <em>do</em> have her eyebrows. And her hair, definitely her hair. Even your face bears a similar shape, that chin. Your spirit is most certainly hers. And…” He gazes into her eyes, feeling at turns hopeful, terrified, guilty, and incredibly confused. “You get your eyes from me.”</p>
<p>“Wait. What?” says the girl. “<em>What</em>?”</p>
<p>For a few moments, they both stare at each other in flabbergasted confusion. Then Jack repeats, “I said, you get your eyes from –”</p>
<p>“I heard what you said!” She shakes her head. “It can’t be possible! You’re the vilest evil creature imaginable! I was born to <em>kill</em> you! Besides –” Suddenly she smirks at Jack and tips her chin up proudly. “I <em>know</em> how I was made. Lord Aku poured his essence into a goblet, and my mother drank it, and then I and my six sisters were born. So I can’t possibly be related to you.”</p>
<p>Jack frowns and strokes his beard thoughtfully. “That seems… improbable,” he muses. “Besides, no human woman could possibly give birth to seven at once. Although I suppose I do not know the full extents of Aku’s powers. On the other hand…” A thought strikes him. “How old are you?”</p>
<p>“Old enough,” scowls the girl.</p>
<p>“Hm. You cannot be older than 20, I think…” He tips her chin up again. “Yes, probably about twenty. And I met her… oh, must be fifty years ago, at least. But then I suppose she… or, that is, Aku, could delay the, erm… well, anyway, he could probably store my, um… but then we never, ah… unless she stole some of my, er, warrior essence? Yes, that could be it. Perhaps while I was sleeping…” At this point, he’s blushing furiously, and can’t seem to make eye contact with the girl at all. He knows in theory how it’s supposed to work, but it’s never happened to him in practice. Well, not that he knows of, anyway. And he definitely doesn’t like talking about that in front of this girl, whether she’s related to him or not. He always has been somewhat reticent about these matters.</p>
<p>The girl spits derisively. “You’re <em>not</em> my father, old man. I would rather tear out my own intestines and use them to hang myself than share any familial resemblance with <em>you</em>.”</p>
<p>“That’s very, uhh…” Jack hesitates. “Descriptive.”</p>
<p>“It’s what you deserve,” adds Bad Jack, not helpfully at all.</p>
<p>“You are certainly trained very well,” says Jack, perhaps more loudly than necessary to drown out Bad Jack. “Trained to hate. Trained to despise. Trained to worship the evil Aku with every fibre of your being, and turn against the truth… Who has done this to you?”</p>
<p>She scowls. Even her scowl is like Ikra’s.</p>
<p>“What about your sisters?” he asks, more gently. “They did not deserve such a fate.”</p>
<p>“They were weak,” snarls the girl. “Just like you. Death is weakness and you will die, you will –“</p>
<p>Jack goes to sit on his own for a while.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“What the fuck are you doing?” asks Bad Jack, poking Jack, hard, in the ribcage. “She’s not your daughter! She’s an assassin! Kill her! Even better, just leave her in here to die!”</p>
<p>“She’s pure evil,” agrees a little ball of light by his face. “Just leave her.”</p>
<p>“She is a <em>child</em>,” says Jack. “I have a duty of care to all innocents.”</p>
<p>Bad Jack snorts. “Duty of care, my ass. Where were you when Scaramouche murdered that town? Where were you when –”</p>
<p>“<em>Regardless</em>,” says Jack, forcefully. “I have a chance to help someone. I cannot ignore that again.”</p>
<p>“She won’t like it,” says the ball of light. “She’ll fight you all the way.”</p>
<p>Jack chuckles slightly and shakes his head. “The Scotsman and I fought, too. Some that I fight become friends, and some that I considered friends…”</p>
<p>“Become enemies,” finishes Bad Jack. “Come off it. You really think a daughter of Ikra will be willing to turn to your side? Because of what, the power of love? The power of family? She is not your family, Jack! You have already abandoned your family, jettisoned them into the past with your sword and the last time portal.”</p>
<p>“Friends are friends. Family is family. And enemies…” Jack looks at the girl. “Well, we shall have to see.”</p>
<p>Where the girl <em>was</em>.</p>
<p>“You’re going to rescue her again, aren’t you,” sighs Bad Jack.</p>
<p>Jack rescues her.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Jack and The Ladybird</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>They move on. Jack is… struggling somewhat: this girl is a pain in the neck. And back. And legs. It’s not quite the weight that was placed on him while learning to jump good, but then it is not just her weight that sags his shoulders. It is… Guilt. Hurt. The loss that comes from knowing that he missed out on his daughters’ childhoods for so many years. The tearing pain from knowing he killed six of them, and that the last hates him.</p>
<p>(He admits that he himself went through a rebellious phase. He was in his teens, in Athens if he remembers correctly. He had gotten <em>very</em> snarky with a few of the older philosophers. He had, at one point, threatened to run away to Sparta. This… this is different.)</p>
<p>…She is also a pain on the ears.</p>
<p>“…the Lord Aku is the greatest in the galaxy – the Universe! His magnificence knows no bounds, his generosity, his –”</p>
<p>“He destroyed my land, pillaged my home, and enslaved everyone I ever loved,” Jack points out, quietly. “He rampages the earth, taking what he wants and destroying what he does not like. He hates everything beautiful, natural, and good.”</p>
<p>“Yeah, well, your people probably deserved it, didn’t they!” She grunts. “They probably rebelled against him. And the earth is his birth right! He deserves to receive all our tribute in praise of him! He –"</p>
<p>That’s when it starts raining needles.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Some people pay good money for this,” Jack comments, nervously, picking the needles out of her skin. “It is called acupuncture.”</p>
<p>She glowers at him.</p>
<p>“I heard a good joke about acupuncture once,” he tries. “Here. Why can you not trust acupuncturists?”</p>
<p>The glower continues.</p>
<p>“Because they will always stab you in the back,” he explains, and pulls another needle out.</p>
<p>Her expression does not change. He goes back to picking needles. At last, both of them are sitting in a pile of little red needles; it wasn’t the most awful experience of his life, but it was pretty unpleasant. She continues to stare at him with that same angry, hateful face.</p>
<p>“Everyone stabs you in the back,” she says, apparently of her own accord. “That’s why you must always be aware of your surroundings. You cannot trust anyone, nor can you allow yourself to let up your guard. This is why you are weak, <em>samurai</em>. You let up your guard too often. Soon, I will finally be able to take advantage of that.”</p>
<p>Jack looks at her for a few moments. Such coldness, such stone-hard will. This is more than <em>sakai</em>. This is… He reaches out and envelops her in a tight hug. She flinches.</p>
<p>“What are you doing to me, you slime? Get off! If you’re trying to strangle me, it isn’t very effective!”</p>
<p>Jack sighs. “This is called a ‘hug’,” he explains quietly. “It is meant to be a comfort, an expression of familial fondness, and many other things besides. Have you never had one before?”</p>
<p>“Comfort?” spits the girl. “Fondness? Weak! Pathetic! Your ‘hug’ means nothing to me!”</p>
<p>“I know,” replies Jack sadly. “And I wish things could have been different for you. I wish I could have found you and your sisters sooner, liberated you from the hold of those who taught you this unfeeling way. I wish I could have been the father to you that you truly deserve. I wish someone, anyone had shown you kindness and comfort and fondness before now. I’m sorry.”</p>
<p>“I do not need your pity, <em>samurai</em>,” she growls.</p>
<p>Jack only hugs her tighter.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>They move on. The armour from the insect-like thing that crawls past at one point is quite good, actually – light, but clearly durable, both warm and stylish. The two of them escape through the creature’s sphincter with little incident (really, being chased over acid by a flying giant lizard skeleton is practically normal in Jack’s book) and find themselves on an island of reeds. A nice place to rest, for a while at least. Fresh air. Cool breeze. Sun. A few insects flying around, harmless. </p>
<p>He can hear her walking around, hear the hand dipping into and out of the water. He can hear the water drip from a sickle-shaped object. He can hear the reeds part as she swishes through them, her footsteps inaudible.</p>
<p>He can hear her when she stops. He’s not sure why. But she <em>did</em> stop.</p>
<p>The first hurdle has been crossed.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Jack and The Voices in His Head</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The next morning, having not been murdered in his sleep yet, Jack summons the Water-Dragon to get him and the girl off the island – Sorairo owes him a favour for figuring out his true name and releasing him from a witch who called him Sora. Although, of course, Jack isn’t usually the type to cash in on favours like that; in his book, the deed itself is (or should be) enough of a payment.</p>
<p>The girl is quiet this morning. He doesn’t even realise it until Sorairo starts showing off his flying abilities – she hasn’t threatened to kill him once. She has barely spoken. Not even a peep about Aku. That must mean something, although it could just be a plot to put him at his ease.</p>
<p>They land; he thanks Sorairo, and the girl does too, to his surprise.</p>
<p>“So,” he starts, when Sorairo has plunged into the depths once more. “I would… be happy to get to know you more, if that is your wish, or… or you may take your own path. I will be going…” He picks a direction. “East.”</p>
<p>She looks at him for a moment, her expression unreadable.</p>
<p>“…Very well then.” He turns towards the east. “Goodbye… daughter.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Great going, idiot,” snarls Bad Jack, as he walks away. “Just abandoning your only daughter like that, real good going there. Murdered the other six and left the seventh to die. <em>Very</em> responsible.”</p>
<p>“It is her choice,” remarks Jack, quietly. “Besides, I thought you said she was <em>not</em> my daughter?”</p>
<p>There is a chuckle from his other side; a horribly familiar, husky, feminine chuckle. “She may not be your daughter, <em>samurai</em>, but she is still mine. What do you think letting <em>her</em> loose on the world is going to do?”</p>
<p>Only one person could possibly pronounce the word ‘samurai’ with that much dry humour mixed with utter malice. It’s Ikra. Ikra, who he now knows is Aku in disguise. Ikra, possibly the mother of his child(ren). Although he’s still not entirely clear <em>how</em> that could have happened, unless she somehow drugged him, since the most physical contact they ever had with each other was a chaste kiss. She looks even more like the girl than he remembers.</p>
<p>“Oh,” he remarks unenthusiastically, “you are here too, are you?”</p>
<p>“Well, I had to show up some time.” She smirks at him. “Tsk tsk. Whatever would everyone think, hmm? A child out of wedlock, with your mortal enemy, and you abandon her <em>twice</em>? That’s no way to raise a child. Such shame. Such dishonour.”</p>
<p>“Who cares about dishonour?” spits Bad Jack. “Who cares about shame? We’re never going to see anyone who cares ever again! No one even knows about her!”</p>
<p>“Except me, presumably,” adds Ikra wryly. “I mean, it stands to reason, doesn’t it? Aku wouldn’t just forget about his children. He’d want to use them to hurt and kill you.”</p>
<p>“Which he did,” nods Jack. “At least, they <em>tried</em> to kill me. But she’s changing. She didn’t try to kill me once today. She didn’t even insult me.”</p>
<p>Bad Jack snorts. “That’s supposed to be <em>progress</em>?”</p>
<p>“I agree with the crazy blue guy,” nods Ikra. “That doesn’t sound very grateful. You’re supposed to be her father, the least she can do is respect you.”</p>
<p>“She has been trained to only kill and hate me,” replies Jack. “It takes time to grow out of that. It took me a long time to get over my hatred of you, for example.”</p>
<p>Ikra blinks. “You don’t hate me?”</p>
<p>“My feelings about you are…” He hesitates. “Complicated. But I do not hate you for yourself, even though you are only Aku in disguise. You are… a traitor, the evil one in disguise, but that does not change the fact that we spent weeks travelling together, hunting and eating together, getting to know one another, saving each other’s life over and over again. In another life, had you not been Aku, we might even have been friends.”</p>
<p>“Aww, how – <em>blergh</em>,” sneers Bad Jack, miming vomiting.</p>
<p>“That’s sweet, really.” Ikra smiles and raises an eyebrow. “<em>So</em> adorable how you’re still so naïve after all these years. Friends? With me? You might as well make friends with that kusarigama.”</p>
<p>Jack sighs, and continues on his way without reply.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>His fire that night is lonely, as it always has been; it is at these times especially when the faces of his parents and others from his past appear, screaming, calling for Jack even though he <em>knows</em> they wouldn’t use that name and –</p>
<p>“I want to know the truth.”</p>
<p>He blinks. There actually is a face across from him at the fire. It’s the girl. His daughter.</p>
<p>“The truth?”</p>
<p>“About Aku. About me. About… everything.” She stares at him, into his eyes. “You said he was evil. That he’s destroying the earth. Is that true?”</p>
<p>“Yes.”</p>
<p>“Can I see it?”</p>
<p>“…I will show you.” He hesitates. “Tomorrow. I will show you everything, I promise.”</p>
<p>“…Ugh. Alright.” She jumps up, onto the cliff behind him. “Is it also true you’re my father?”</p>
<p>“I…” Jack stares into the fire, at the empty embers where just a few moments the visions of his parents called for him from the depths. “I don’t know. Perhaps. Perhaps not. Would you like me to be?”</p>
<p>A pause from her end. At last: “…I don’t know either. I’m still getting used to not killing you.”</p>
<p>“All right.” He nods and pokes the fire. “Take your time.”</p>
<p>"Ashi," she says, in a small, quiet voice. "My name is Ashi."</p>
<p>“Ashi.” Jack smiles, although he knows she can’t see him from up there. “It’s very nice to make your acquaintance, Ashi.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Ashi and the Glory of Aku</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Sorry this is later than usual! I lost track of time.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“I wish you could have seen this forest in its full glory,” sighs Jack, indicating the lone cherry blossom tree. “It was once a beautiful grove, a place of peace and harmony… But Aku destroyed it. These spikes –“ he gestures towards the black sharp protrusions sticking out of the ground – “prevent anything further from being planted or replanted. There will never be any more trees here: once this one dies, this land will be barren and lifeless.”</p>
<p>Ashi stares solemnly at the tree for a while, and at the spikes.</p>
<p>“Come on,” Jack tells her. “I will show you the City of Aku, it is quite close to here.”</p>
<p>She follows; her feet make very little noise, even now. Perhaps it’s wrong to be afraid, be paranoid of a silent follower, but then Jack has spent the last fifty years being hunted every minute of every day, so perhaps it’s a natural response. If he could start a conversation…</p>
<p>“You have a very nice name,” he comments. “It suits you.”</p>
<p>“I…” Ashi’s steps become audible, just a little as she mis-steps. “It’s not that special. My sisters and I all had names like that, Ami, Aki, Avi, Ari…”</p>
<p>“Oh, well if you desire to change it you are most welcome to,” nods Jack. “I myself have adopted a pseudonym as I traverse this future land.”</p>
<p>Ashi takes a moment to parse this. “You mean ‘Samurai Jack’ isn’t your real name?”</p>
<p>He chuckles. “No, of course not. ‘Samurai’ is more like a title, like ‘Knight’ I suppose. ‘Jack’, as far as I can make out, is a meaningless name, so common that it has become slang for ‘a man’. I must say I’ve grown attached to it over the years.”</p>
<p>“…Oh. Wow. I never realised…” A pause, and then the inevitable: “So what’s your real one?”</p>
<p>A moment; Jack tries to remember the name his parents, his teachers, his friends would call him in the past, and finds himself coming up blank. It’s been so long since he’s had any reason to even think about it – not even the voices in his head call him by that name anymore. “Ah…”</p>
<p>“You don’t remember, do you.”</p>
<p>“…no.” He clears his throat. “Sorry. But you could, umm…” Jack rubs the back of his neck. “You could call me ‘Father’, if you so desire? Or ‘Dad’?…” The look on Ashi’s face stops him. “…perhaps not.”</p>
<p>She turns her head away. “Yeah, no, I am <em>not</em> calling you Dad. Let’s just stick with ‘Jack’.”</p>
<p>“…alright.”</p>
<p>Another long, awkward pause; she’s still walking silent behind him, right where he can’t see him. Right where his instinct till tells him to beware of the threat. At last, she breaks the silence again: “…Does my name mean anything? To you, I mean.”</p>
<p>“In my tongue? Certainly.” He looks out onto the road to the City of Aku contemplatively. “There are a few meanings it could have, but my favourite is ‘reed’.”</p>
<p>“What’s a ‘reed’?”</p>
<p>“Don’t you know?” Jack shakes his head. “There were many on that island. Those red plants, you remember?”</p>
<p>“Reed,” repeats Ashi, thoughtfully.</p>
<p>He smiles, though he knows she can’t see him from behind his back. “It reminds me of the story of the girl who came from bamboo.”</p>
<p>Ashi makes a little surprised sound. “Bamboo?”</p>
<p>“Yes.” Jack digs deep, deep into his old memories from childhood. “A long, long time ago, before either you or I was born, there was an humble old bamboo cutter. One day, he came across a mysterious, shining stalk of bamboo, and cut it open to find a strange surprise – for inside was a little girl the size of his thumb. Since he had no children of his own, he decided to raise her…”</p>
<p>Ashi listens, spellbound, as Jack works his way slowly through the tale of the Bamboo Princess and her adoptive father (though he can’t remember, actually, whether she had one parent or two). He is not, perhaps, as good a wordsmith as the ones who told these stories, many aeons ago; it has been many decades since he heard them himself. But it… it helps him, somehow. To remember the Old Country, the time before, when the idea of actually finding a little girl in bamboo was a sweet story rather than a genuine possibility.</p>
<p>(The story never said that the bamboo girl might try to kill him.)</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The black spires of the City of Aku loom over the landscape, its shadow falling longer and wider than it has any right to. There is never any sunlight in the City of Aku: only slightly less grey sky. What is not black or grey is a ghastly lurid shade of red.</p>
<p>Jack sneaks a few clothes to fit in; his recollection of city fashion is admittedly hazy, but he remembers seeing a few men on the street with similar attire. Usually surrounded with women, now that he thinks about it. But the hat is useful: he can cover his face from the gazes of any watchful bounty hunters and servants of Aku that might be around. Ashi, of course, pretty much fits with the décor anyway.</p>
<p>He leads her to the Immigration Tower, or one of them. Aku has created many of these buildings, specifically so that he can invite the cruellest and most harmful species of the galaxy in to ravage the Earth. They are just in time to catch sight of yet another new arrival.</p>
<p>“Welcome,” smarms the Immigration Officer. “We especially welcome gentlemen of your persuasion, Mister…?”</p>
<p>“Skarsk. The Impaler.”</p>
<p>“<em>Lovely</em>.” The Immigration Officer writes this down. “You’ll find your new home here… already inhabited, but…”</p>
<p>Skarsk grins. “That will not be problem.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“All right,” nods Ashi, at last, as they walk out of the City of Aku once more. “I believe you. Aku is… not who I thought he was. And neither are you. He’s the evil one, and you’re…” She doesn’t finish the thought, but it’s a big improvement on “you scum”.</p>
<p>Jack looks at her. “And what about the… other thing?”</p>
<p>She shrugs. “You were right about everything else. It’s not impossible. So…” For a few moments, she stares down at her quiet feet, padding softly over the road. “I don’t know. If you really are… if I really am… I’ve never really <em>had</em> a father before.”</p>
<p>“Well,” he chuckles, “I have never had a daughter before, either. Though I did take care of a baby once. I would be happy to learn together.”</p>
<p>Ashi blushes slightly and smiles. “So…”</p>
<p>“Yes?”</p>
<p>“How do we defeat Aku?” she asks, as if anything is as simple as that. “How do we stop all these awful things from happening?”</p>
<p>“We can’t.” Jack sighs. Mention of Aku and Jack’s own failures always sours his mood. “Things would be easier if I had my sword, but I…”</p>
<p>(Once more with the killing of innocents. It is all too easy to see them as sacrificial lambs, killed not to eat but for his own hatred for Aku, his own obsession with going back to the past. It has been a long time since that day, and there is still blood on his hands.)</p>
<p>Ashi stares at him, horrified. “There <em>has</em> to be another way. There has to be <em>something</em> we can do.”</p>
<p>Suddenly, Jack feels very tired, very old; he remembers thinking this way too, once upon a time. He’s learnt not to let himself get his hopes up: there’s nothing left. Not a time portal, not a sword, nothing. He was born, trained to use the sword on Aku. And now it’s gone. And he’s nothing, just one man against an entire planet – an entire galaxy’s worth of hurt.</p>
<p>“There is nothing. Not against Aku.” He turns towards the onward road. “Just help who you can when you can. That’s all that’s left.”</p>
<p>“But –”</p>
<p>“It’s useless, Ashi!” Jack shakes his head. “Believe me, I have tried, but… I am sorry.”</p>
<p>She looks at him, clearly disappointed, but does not say a word.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Jack and Ashi Vs. Mental Illness</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Please be aware that this chapter contains a canonical suicide/seppuku attempt.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>If there has ever been a weakness in Jack’s nature, it is that he simply cannot ignore people in trouble. He can try, certainly, to kill off any empathy and emotion he might have had; he can force himself to ignore the cries for help, but…</p>
<p>They are screaming. His parents, his whole city, the countless people who have died because of him and his choices. Their voices echo through the burning village, reminding him that he is a failure, that he can never live up to the rescuing hero his parents and mentors taught him to be. That he can never hope to be enough in a world governed by Aku. And that there is no other way, no hope for another way to be, because it is his fault that he lost the sword, and that even if he had the sword there would be no way of returning to his past to change this overwhelming future.</p>
<p>He has to save them, these blue-skinned ones. He has to save everyone, otherwise they’re just another face in his mind, screaming at him, screaming with the weight of their pain and suffering.</p>
<p>He <em>cannot</em> let that happen to a group of children.</p>
<p>(“What about us?” ask six girls that look like Ashi. “You were fine with letting <em>us</em> die.”)</p>
<p>Ashi looks at him, and he nods. “Let us go.”</p>
<p>The factory, then, is not too far away; as they enter, the whole building is eerily quiet. And then the children emerge from the shadows, walking in that slow unhurried way that Jack recognises from a time long ago. As soon as there is a signal, as soon as whoever is controlling them presses the right button –</p>
<p>Their eyes glow red, and Jack hears the disco beat again.</p>
<p>“Find the source,” Jack says, or shouts, as the children begin to overpower the two of them; with quick, agile movements, Ashi escapes the piles of small hands and leaps away to do just that.</p>
<p>Jack… does his best to defend himself without actually hurting the children. It is difficult, knowing that without the mind control they will surely feel the pain and bruises from being thrown around by a grown man; to use a weapon against them would be unthinkable. They are none of them yet in their teens. Whoever has done this… it is unforgivable. At least Ashi’s sisters were grown adults.</p>
<p>(<em>you killed them, you murdered them, you should have helped them</em>)</p>
<p>A child bites his forearm. Another scratches his leg like an animal. A third simply headbutts him, hard, in the diaphragm. And it keeps going, keeps happening, and though he is fairly resistant to pain, the injuries begin to pile up on each other, layering hurt upon hurt; they cannot do much on their own, perhaps, but as a mass as a group, they are brutal, relentless, merciless.</p>
<p>(<em>you killed them</em>)</p>
<p>He keeps going, keeps himself as bait, as a distraction. Ashi has been gone a while. He can’t bring himself to imagine all the things that might have happened to her – for now, he has to focus on himself, on dodging the next child, on getting away just slow enough for them to chase him and not get distracted by anything else going on.</p>
<p>And at last –</p>
<p>They stop. The children’s hands stop their tearing at his skin, stop their punching, kicking, biting. For a moment, he can allow himself to breathe, to hope –</p>
<p>The children, all at once, collapse, convulsing, on the floor.</p>
<p>(<strong><em>you killed them you murdered them you –</em></strong>)</p>
<p>And that is when the Omen comes to him.</p>
<p>He follows the spectre outward, onto a dark and dismal road; through shadowy realms of strange noises and echoing voices, past half-tangible figures, through lines of grey stones and dead trees and hollow caves. Perhaps time passes, although Jack is not fully aware of it. His feet move carefully over the rough ground; the Omen floats onward, ever onward. Voices call out to him, <em>failure, murderer</em>, and he hangs his head, knowing that it's all true.</p>
<p>And at last, they reach the graveyard, the place where he will be judged.</p>
<p>He’s not sure where the wakizashi in his hand came from. Perhaps the Omen gave it to him. Or perhaps he has always had it, somewhere in the darkest parts of his mind. It is irrelevant, anyway. Everything is irrelevant now.</p>
<p>“You have failed to uphold the honour of a warrior,” says one of the three ghostly warriors that the Omen conjures up. “When a true warrior says that something will be done, it is as good as done. You promised and swore to return to your time, but have you? The only person who stands in your way is yourself.”</p>
<p>“I know.”</p>
<p>“You cannot hide from yourself,” agrees the second warrior. “Rather than helping your fellow men, rather than going out of your way to help those in need, you have instead caused more heartbreak and death. Is this who you were trained to be? Is this really the way of the warrior?”</p>
<p>“…no.”</p>
<p>“You may still regain your honour,” adds the third warrior. “You know this. Do the right thing, the admirable thing.”</p>
<p>He nods dully. “Someone must be my second.”</p>
<p>“<strong>That is my job</strong>,” replies the Omen. “<strong>And I intend to see it through to the end</strong>.”</p>
<p>Jack closes his eyes and raises the sword. “It shall be done.” A long, deep, breath, as he centres and resigns himself to both his failure and his inevitable death: there are voices, shouting at or encouraging him at turns, but he finds he is able to ignore them, just for now.</p>
<p>Most of them. There’s one that sounds just like Ashi: “Jack! No, don’t do it!”</p>
<p>Thankfully, the Omen’s voice rings clear through the mind-fog and the shouting and the – is he imagining the sounds of fighting? “<strong>Do not distract the samurai from what he must do</strong>.”</p>
<p>“Jack, you don’t have to do this –”</p>
<p>“<strong>You must do this.</strong> <strong>There is no hope for him.”</strong></p>
<p>“Jack, listen to me, this is all a mistake! Hope lives! It is everywhere! I've seen it. Everyone you have touched. The people you have helped. You saved them!”</p>
<p>“<strong>Do not listen! Do it!</strong>”</p>
<p>“You're being misguided! I've seen it! You've saved countless innocents, but most of all, you showed me the truth! You made me see that there's so much more to me than I knew existed! You made me way more than what I was!”</p>
<p>“<strong>You are worthless. A failure. A murderer. You deserve to die.</strong>”</p>
<p>“Dad, <em>please</em>! The hope you gave me saved my life!”</p>
<p><em>That</em> gets his attention. His eyes snap open. Ashi – imaginary or otherwise – is standing there, and his first irrelevant thought is realising that she has a leafy new dress. Her arms are more normal than he expected. Why did he expect her bare skin to look different? And… a change in hairstyle?</p>
<p>This might actually be real. He’s never had a hallucination <em>this</em> far from what he knows.</p>
<p>“Are you real?”</p>
<p>Ashi looks down at herself and pats her body in sudden consternation. “I think so?”</p>
<p>Jack reaches out, ignoring the raging of the Omen and the ghosts, which seem suddenly immaterial and faraway, to touch Ashi’s face. It <em>feels</em> real. He drops the wakizashi and pinches the skin of his forearm. <em>That</em> feels real too. A moment, while his brain does loop-de-loops, tangling itself up in… all of this. What is he doing? What…</p>
<p>“Did you just call me…?”</p>
<p>Her mouth twitches suddenly. “…yeah, well, don’t expect it to happen again.”</p>
<p>Jack blinks at her. Before he can say another word, though, he hears the swish of something flying down towards him –</p>
<p>In one movement, he picks up the wakizashi, twists, and parries the Omen, and then all of them are fighting, the Omen and the three ghosts and Ashi, too, using no weapons but her body. And this Jack knows how to do. He can do evil homicidal ghosts practically in his sleep – although not this time, for it feels as though he’s just now waking up again. Just now seeing the truth.</p>
<p>“The children,” he starts, as the wakizashi slices towards the Omen. “They <em>died</em>.”</p>
<p>“They’re alive,” replies Ashi, despatching of one of the three ghosts. “Their mind-control chips just got overloaded and knocked them out for a few minutes.”</p>
<p>“Oh,” says Jack, parrying and dodging once again. “Really? You would not lie just to make me feel better?”</p>
<p>Ashi considers this as her fist plunges towards the next ghost. “I met a lot of people on my way here who are indebted to you. Even if I was lying about that one thing, you’d still have done more good than harm.”</p>
<p>“Oh,” Jack says again. With one final, deadly attack, he traps the Omen into a corner; skilfully, he knocks away the Omen’s sword and points the wakizashi at its chest. “Well then. I believe you have some explaining to do.”</p>
<p>“<strong>You are not forgiven,</strong>” says the Omen. “<strong>We will return, samurai. When you fail again</strong>.”</p>
<p>“It is a good thing that I do not plan to fail, then,” replies Jack, and drives the wakizashi through the Omen’s heart. It disappears in a puff of smoke. Behind him, he hears the last samurai ghost do the same.</p>
<p>For a moment, he stands there, panting slightly, staring at the gravestone against which the Omen was leaning; at last, he turns back around to Ashi.</p>
<p>“I, umm…” Jack smiles nervously at her. “I see you have turned over a new leaf.”</p>
<p>Ashi stares at him.</p>
<p>“A new leaf,” he repeats, gesturing to her leafy dress. “You turned over… never mind. You look good. Got rid of the black outfit.”</p>
<p>“Yes,” says Ashi. “I scraped the black-burned skin away, yes.”</p>
<p>“The what,” says Jack.</p>
<p>“The skin.” She looks at him oddly. “My body was coated in the burning darkness of the Pit of Hate.”</p>
<p>Jack stares at her in horror. “<em>That </em>is what you were wearing all this time?”</p>
<p>“Yes, I scraped it off.” She blinks. “What exactly is it that you don’t understand?”</p>
<p>“Just…” He shakes his head. “Was that not painful?”</p>
<p>“Extremely,” she replies. “That’s why I scraped it off.”</p>
<p>“Why were you even wearing it in the first place instead of normal clothes?”</p>
<p>“Clothes are irrelevant to Aku.” She folds her arms. “We had to travel as light as possible to hunt you, and darkness is the medium of Aku.”</p>
<p>“That’s not what I –” Jack shakes his head, sighs, and lays his hand on her shoulder. “I am sorry that you were forced to go through that, Ashi. If it had been my choice, I would have clothed you in the finest kimonos, the most stylish and comfortable robes.”</p>
<p>Ashi thinks about this. “Doesn’t sound very… practical.”</p>
<p>“…Perhaps not.” There is an awkward silence; neither of them really know what to say. At last, Jack rouses himself and smiles shakily at her. “I’m sorry for… for this. I’m your father, I should be looking after you, not the other way around.”</p>
<p>“Parents are also supposed to teach you,” she replies gently. “You taught me… That there’s more to life than killing and darkness. That the world is full of beauty and wonder. That… That even someone like me can choose my own path. And I… I choose you. You are the greatest person I know. You are a hero. And now that I see you for who you really are, I am honoured to be your daughter.”</p>
<p>“Ashi!” He grins and, with strong arms, picks her up and spins her around. “Oh, my wonderful daughter…”</p>
<p>“Ack!” she yelps, although he can tell she doesn’t mind too much. “Is this another of those ‘hug’ things?”</p>
<p>“It most certainly is!”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Ritual seppuku, at least for warriors, requires a "second" to finish the job, and usually witnesses.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Jack and the Desert-Woman's Daughter</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“So… what next?”</p>
<p>“It is time to find my sword.”</p>
<p>The journey to find the place where he last saw his sword is long; it gives plenty of time for Jack, slowly, to really get to know Ashi. For one: she has no idea how to make a fire.</p>
<p>“You mean no one ever taught you this?” gapes Jack, who has been making fires since he was old enough not to put his hand in there.</p>
<p>“Um…” says Ashi, staring down at the pile of sticks on the ground below her. “The priestesses just focused on how to kill <em>you</em>.”</p>
<p>Jack tuts and kneels down beside her; very slowly and deliberately, explaining every step of the process, he begins to show her how to build and light a fire with only whatever logs and kindling were available in the forest. As her father, he has a duty to teach her these kinds of basic life skills.</p>
<p>Like another one: plants. She doesn’t even know which plants she’s wearing, nor whether they might be poisonous, irritating, or otherwise inconvenient to wear. And, granted, even Jack comes across plants he doesn’t recognise. Often, in fact. But he at least has the sense not to plaster them all over his body at the first opportunity. So, he shows her the plants they come across, the good ones and the bad ones, the plants to eat from and the plants to use as medicine, the plants to stay away from at all costs. Which then leads to her third point of education: animals.</p>
<p>“And you’re sure that one’s not a vassal of Aku,” she says, brows creased.</p>
<p>“That is a deer,” he replies. “Same as the other one. They are neither for Aku nor against him – most animals cannot comprehend more than where their next meal is coming from, who will eat them, who is their friend or their lover.” Fingers crossed he won’t have to explain <em>that</em> to her anytime soon.</p>
<p>She really is like a newborn fawn, stumbling about on awkward legs and wondering at the world around her – at least, she would be were it not for the fact that she knows a thousand-and-one ways to kill him. Running out of stories to tell her, he teaches plant-lore and animal-lore and how to make a fire and navigation and the true history of the world under Aku. Because that is what fathers do. They teach their children how to live in the world. He himself has had about a dozen of them, including his birth father. She has only had endless faceless identical Mothers who weren’t even her mothers (probably) but took on the role seamlessly until even she couldn’t tell which was which. They had beaten her.</p>
<p>“Beaten you?” repeats Jack with an expression of calamity.</p>
<p>“Only when I deserved it,” Ashi replies casually, stirring the fire that, after several tries, she had actually got burning very well. “You know. Slipping. Getting last in a race. Being <em>stupid</em>. Weakness.” As if that makes it better. As if that makes it <em>all right</em>. Jack’s heart breaks all over again for this motherless, fatherless, abused daughter of Aku: his mother, by contrast, was the kindest, gentlest, most forgiving and above all most motherly human being he has ever loved.</p>
<p>“You did not deserve any of that,” he tells Ashi, fervently. “You deserve kind words and gentle hands. You are not weak, nor incompetent, nor stupid. You are strong and intelligent and so, so talented. They are the ones who were weak for resorting to such abuse.”</p>
<p>She looks away, but Jack clasps her hand tight. “I am so sorry that that happened to you, Ashi. If you ever need to talk about it, know that I am here for you.”</p>
<p>Ashi nods, so slightly that he barely sees it, and carefully, keeping inside her field of vision, he puts a hand on her shoulder in silent support. And if she ever does want to talk about it – well, he’ll try to be ready.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“So, uhh…” begins Ashi, one night about halfway to their goal. “Tell me about, uhh, that woman. You said she was Aku disguised as a woman?”</p>
<p>Jack looks up from their supper in surprise. “Oh, Ikra? There’s not much to tell. As you know, Aku can shapeshift, although he cannot change his colours. He transformed himself into a woman and spun a great lie about a father imprisoned, so on, so forth… I suppose I felt a kinship with her.”</p>
<p>Ashi nods and takes a bite. “How’d you find out?”</p>
<p>“It was… silly, really.” He shakes his head and leans back on the log he’s sitting on. “We spent several weeks searching through the desert, in close quarters, fighting and eating and drinking together, but… When we finally got to what we were looking for, a Time Crystal if I remember correctly, she took it immediately and – to my horror – destroyed it. And then transformed into a bat and taunted me, as Aku is wont to do, and flew away.”</p>
<p>Ashi blinks at him. “That’s it? Pretty much like what you and I are doing now, except she was Aku in disguise?”</p>
<p>“Pretty much,” he agrees.</p>
<p>“I thought women were like prey to you,” says Ashi, with that sudden honesty that always catches Jack off guard. “I heard you were breaking women’s hearts left, right, and centre. But she was different?”</p>
<p>“Oh, no, I…” Jack raises his hands. “I am not interested in women that way.”</p>
<p>Ashi looks back down at her food. “Oh. Okay.”</p>
<p>Jack hesitates. “This is the point where most people would have asked if I was interested in men,” he prompts.</p>
<p>“There are other men?”</p>
<p>“Many.” Some of the individuals he has met, human and nonhuman alike, have other genders beyond mere male and female, but Jack does not tell Ashi this. It’s not that he minds: now he understands the concept it seems a very positive social development. But he doesn’t want to confuse the poor girl more than she is already – she’s only just learning of the existence of other men, for goodness’ sake. Maybe another day.</p>
<p>“And… are you interested in them?”</p>
<p>“Not really.” Jack considers this. “That is, only as friends. The same goes for women.”</p>
<p>“Oh.” Ashi thinks about this for a moment. “Okay. So, in other words, this Ikra woman… was also just a friend?”</p>
<p>This time it is Jack’s turn to stare at his food. “She was.” There is a question about Ashi’s own origin just around the corner, he can practically taste it. He’s not sure if he’s ready for that conversation. He’s not sure he has all or even any of the answers. As far as he knows, yes, he and Ikra never were anything more than friends. But that does not exclude the possibility of anything that might have happened without his knowledge, without his consent. And of course, there is the matter of ‘warrior essence’.</p>
<p>But apparently not. Ashi nods thoughtfully and takes another bite of her food; perhaps she does not realise the intricacies necessary to get from ‘just friends’ to Ashi.</p>
<p>“I am…” He stops, thinks a moment, starts again: “I am glad you were born. You saved my life in that graveyard, saved me from my own mind.”</p>
<p>Ashi smiles sadly. “Yeah.”</p>
<p>“I…” Jack sighs. “I wish I had not killed your sisters. That I could perhaps convinced them to see the truth, just as you have done.”</p>
<p>“You were acting in self-defence,” replies Ashi, quietly. “I don’t blame you.”</p>
<p>“I thought you were robots,” admits Jack. “You all looked the same, the same face… I did not realise my mistake until I saw the blood on my hands.”</p>
<p>“Ati,” Ashi nods. “She was the first. I… we called her weak. For dying. Death is weakness.”</p>
<p>“She was not weak.” Jack hangs his head. “She was as strong as all of you. As strong as Ikra.”</p>
<p>She, Ashi, stirs the fire again. Another that she herself set, lit, and maintains. She’s getting good at it. “As strong as you?”</p>
<p>“Perhaps stronger,” he replies. “In some ways.”</p>
<p>That makes her smile, smile as she rarely does. It’s a nice smile. Jack promises himself that he will endeavour to make her smile more, care for her more. He will be the best damn dad she’s ever had.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>you heard it here first, jack says non-binary rights</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Jack and His Sword</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“…and then the sword fell down this bottomless pit,” says Jack. “And there was nothing I could do.”</p>
<p>Ashi stares down into the black abyss. “All right,” she says at last. “So let’s go get it back then.”</p>
<p>Jack hears the clip-clop of tiny hooves echo out of the abyss, catches a glimpse of a little tuft of wool out of the corner of his eye. He shudders. This is a cursed place. Carefully, he nudges Kiki the bird to float down into the deep hole, slowly, so that they have plenty of time to search for any glint of silver-grey.</p>
<p>Nothing in the jagged crannies in the side of the rock. Nothing behind a jutting spire or irregular join. Nothing, nothing, nothing on even the slightest or greatest ledge, empty receptacles for the forgotten sword. Finally, anti-climactically, they touch down at the very bottom of the hole. There is a space about as large as two rooms together, enough that light from one burning torch is not enough. Jack takes it, pries into every corner.</p>
<p>It is gone.</p>
<p>After – what, forty, fifty years together? – it has abandoned him. And he deserves it. He has become corrupted, violent, a warmonger and murderer where he was meant to bring peace. He has failed the one purpose for which both he and the sword were made. But then again –</p>
<p>There is hope. There is joy and love in this world. Ashi has shown it to him. There is a chance.</p>
<p>“To get it back, there is something I must do,” he tells her, when Kiki has delivered them back to the pinnacle of the spire. “But I must do it alone. I trust you to protect me.” And with that, he takes his place on the smooth ledge at the top of the spire and prepares his mind.</p>
<p>First, close out all distractions. Sound, light, movement, touch, until the blackness is absolute. A deep breath, in, out. And then –</p>
<p><em>Picture the sword</em>. Feel it in his hands. Pick it up –</p>
<p>And drag it down through cool starry liquid skies, and it’s not a sword, it’s an oar. He punts his raft unhurriedly through the galaxy below and before and above, not having any particular destination in mind. Clouds float past on their slow and mysterious journeys. The… water? parts for his oar and closes again near-seamlessly with a slight <em>slap-slap</em>. Slow. Calm. Peaceful. For the first time in a while, there are no voices calling for him or faces leering out at him from corners.</p>
<p>There is a light in the distance. Jack directs the raft towards it without any change in his relaxed speed: there is no rush. These things, as his father once told him, as he has been told often enough since, take time. Patience. He will get there, one drag of the oar at a time.</p>
<p>Eventually, the raft rolls up and beaches itself on the little island, and Jack disembarks and makes his way up the path to the little hut on the top from which the light emanates. He slides the shoji door open: a wizened old monk watches him from inside.</p>
<p>“Are you lost?” asks the monk.</p>
<p>“Yes, sir,” replies Jack.</p>
<p>“Then come inside,” replies the monk.</p>
<p>Despite lacking footwear to remove in the <em>genkan</em>, Jack dusts off his feet as best he can before stepping onto the tatami mat; he enters and sits <em>seiza</em>, in the proper old style, sitting on his heels, across from the monk.</p>
<p>“Why don’t you make tea for us?” asks the monk, and the implements are there between them, the tea bowl and caddy, the tea scoop, the whisk. Jack’s hands move almost of their own accord, moving through the motions smoothly as he has been taught. Ritual cleansing. The hot water. The leaves. He has no kimono to store the <em>fukusa</em> cloth, nor <em>tabi</em> on his feet; he knows the subtle ways that such things may be avoided, the right words in the right place (when in doubt, none at all). The whisk to stir, stir, just so. It feels backwards, to be making tea when he is the guest here.</p>
<p>He presents the bowl to the monk, who takes it, expression unchanging. Slowly, the old monk tips the bowl and takes a sip. His lips smack together, once, twice.</p>
<p>“This is terrible.”</p>
<p>“I… beg your pardon?”</p>
<p>“It’s terrible,” repeats the monk, putting down the bowl. “You have completed all the necessary steps, you have all the right ingredients, and yet… It lacks balance. <em>You</em> lack balance. That is why the path to the sword remains blocked.”</p>
<p>“The sword?” Jack looks at the monk, properly, suddenly remembering what it is he’s actually here for, what he originally set out to do. “Can you help me find it? Please?”</p>
<p>“Patience.” The monk holds up one hand. "You have other questions that must be answered first. Go on. Ask.”</p>
<p>"What is my name?" asks Jack, and is surprised at himself. This surely does not help him get closer to the sword? But it slipped from his mouth without him even realising it. "If it is not Jack."</p>
<p>The monk raises an eyebrow. "You have lost your name? How careless. Perhaps I will give you a new one.” He reaches up; Jack leans down, and the monk touches the centre of his forehead with two fingers. It feels as though he is applying some sort of paste, although his fingers come away clean; perhaps there is a mark there to imitate the one on the monk’s own forehead. “You shall be Junpei, the pure and peaceful one. When you have earned it, that is.”</p>
<p>He bows his head and stores the name Junpei inside his heart, making sure it shall not be forgotten like the other one. "Thank you."</p>
<p>“You are welcome. Is there anything else?”</p>
<p>"Ashi," says Jack, and is surprised once more when he really meant to ask about the <em>sword</em>, where is the <em>sword</em>, how does he get the <em>sword</em>. "Is she really -?"</p>
<p>The monk smiles with the smile of someone who can keep his secrets for thousands of years. "Will the answer affect your balance?"</p>
<p>"…I do not know," replies Jack quietly. "That is why I am asking." The words fall out of him, as if his mind has been opened to let his thoughts run free.</p>
<p>“The wise reply.” The monk sips his terrible tea. “When you have reached the answer that brings you balance, then will you be a little wiser. Anything else?”</p>
<p>“Show me the true path to the sword,” replies Jack, <em>finally</em>. “Please, I need –”</p>
<p>“I cannot,” says the monk. “Only you can do that.”</p>
<p>“More like he can, and he just doesn’t want to tell us,” snarls Bad Jack, and he is truly Bad today, all rough edges and sharp teeth. “You must tell us, old man, or you’ll regret it! Who is he to say when we’ve earned our name? Who’s he that thinks he’s so high and mighty, keeping us from the sword? Show us! We’ll kill you!”</p>
<p>“No,” says Jack, and puts his hand up. “He is right. You are right, sir. It is my frustration, my anger, my guilt that has blocked me from the sword. I must become pure, become balanced. And that means that I need to get rid of –” he grabs Bad Jack’s sleeve – “<em>you</em>.”</p>
<p>With a fluid <em>yank</em>, Jack pulls Bad Jack over his head and slams the spectre into the wall behind. There is a cacophony of voices – his mother, his father, Scaramouche, Ikra, Ashi, and countless others too numerous to name, ones that he has heard in his dreams and coming out of his fire and from the mouths of crows and as voices in the wind. And then –</p>
<p>Silence. The monk draws the tea bowl to his lips and takes a noisy sip.</p>
<p>The Gods appear. Ra. Vishnu. Odin. Their power is beyond imagining, beyond all thought and imagination, and their voices rend the heavens as they speak:</p>
<p>“<strong><em><span class="u">YOU HAVE BEEN FOUND WORTHY.”</span></em></strong></p>
<p>There is a terrible, tearing pain, all over his body, as if every atom inside him is being torn apart all at once. A dazzling light and a noise that his mind simply refuses to process.</p>
<p>And then –</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>The characters to write the name Junpei literally translate to "pure" and "level, even, peaceful" respectively.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. The New Jack</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Jack has his magical girl transformation sequence.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The first thing that he feels as the transformation takes over his body is the smooth cloth thong of a new pair of sandals flowing up between his toes and over his feet; the next is the sensation of new clothes, comfortable and practical, sliding over to cover him; and then the solid, comforting feeling of something in his hand.</p>
<p>His katana. The sword has returned, back at his side as if it had never left, and he breathes out, long, relieved. It’s here. It’s back. There’s nothing to worry about now except Aku himself, and even that seems like a minor obstacle now.</p>
<p>Jack feels like himself again: fresh, clean, reinvigorated. He feels young, as if all the long, hard years he has lived in this future have been wiped away. He feels… handsome, actually. And clean-shaven. It’s been a while since he’s had that luxury.</p>
<p>His gi and obi are fresh and pleasant-smelling, as if freshly washed and perfumed; his hair neatly tied in a chonmage again and feeling soft and clean; he even has a pair of new shoes. Proper traditional-style wooden geta, not the heavy boots that he acquired in order to ride the motorbike: both comfortable and practical, and the best version of footwear on this side of a millennium.</p>
<p>Slowly, with great reverence, he pulls the katana from its sheath: he can tell that it is not only new-forged, but completely refreshed from handle to tip. The bindings of the handle are restored; once again he feels that he can truly get a grip on it. The balance and weight of it in his hand feels as though it were made for him – which, he supposes, it was. He sheathes it again, deliberately, taking care to put it the right way up.</p>
<p>Yes, this is right. This is what he was looking for. This is why he overcame Bad Jack and endured the tearing pain. This –</p>
<p>He suddenly remembers where he is: on top of a high pinnacle of rock in the middle of – not nowhere, but close enough to nowhere that it makes no difference – and…</p>
<p>He blinks, dispels the lingering air of magic and strangeness, and turns, slowly, carefully. His body feels different: as if he’s had a long, relaxing bath, a massage, and has been both eating and exercising well for weeks. It’s strange not to have any aches and pains for once. He didn’t even realise how many he’d had before: now they’re gone, the absence is much easier to feel.</p>
<p>The top of the spire is quiet. Deadly quiet. There are arrows littering the stone underfoot, and blood, spots of blood here and there that have Jack’s instinct flaring, and there on the ground stretched over the rubble –</p>
<p><em>no</em> –</p>
<p>there is Ashi, lying on the cold hard ground, and there is blood, blood again and he rushes to her side, checks her pulse –</p>
<p>and she’s alive. She’s breathing. Just unconscious. “Ashi. <em>Ashi</em>.”</p>
<p>She stirs, brows creasing. Her eyes squint open, and then: “Oh! You’re – you’re different.”</p>
<p>“You’re alive,” says Jack, and then: “Yes, I suppose I do look different, don’t I?”</p>
<p>“I’m alive,” she confirms, as he helps her stand. “You got the sword. And you got rid of the shaggy… hair thing. On your face.”</p>
<p>“Beard,” supplies Jack, and then looks over her shoulder, really looks out onto the plain, and suddenly notices the army. The entire army of very defeated-looking individuals. Oh. Oh, <em>wow</em>. “You have been busy,” he remarks. “You are most certainly my daughter.”</p>
<p>“I killed the High Priestess who raised me,” Ashi blurts out.</p>
<p>“Oh.” Jack looks around. “Where is…”</p>
<p>Ashi nods towards the cliff. “She fell.”</p>
<p>“Oh.” He turns back to her. “That must have been very difficult for you. I am sorry that you were forced to do that on my account.”</p>
<p>“I’m not.” She pouts with defiance, fists curling. “She was awful. We all hated her. I’ve wanted to kill her since I knew what killing was. I was going to do it after I killed you, but…” She shrugs apologetically. “Plans change.”</p>
<p>“Plans change,” he agrees, and takes her chin fondly in his hand. “You have changed many of my plans, Ashi, in a good way.”</p>
<p>She smiles again, beatifically, and then: “So? What now?”</p>
<p>“We go to find Aku,” replies Jack, and as he says it knows for certain that it is the right if not the only thing to do. “We finish this, once and for all.”</p>
<p>Ashi straightens up and bunches up her fists. “I’m ready. I’ll follow you. I’ll help.”</p>
<p>“I know. Thank you, Ashi.” He drops his hand. “For everything.”</p>
<p>It’s time to get Aku.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Jack and Ashi Vs. the Tiger People</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Jack takes Ashi to the nearest inhabited place, a desert town where there is a vibrant transport hub (if he remembers correctly); at the very least, he will be able to find out the best way to wherever Aku’s lair is nowadays. And, of course, there will inevitably be plenty of refreshments.</p>
<p>“Try it,” he prompts, holding out a frankly delectable shrimp to Ashi. “Really, it is delicious.”</p>
<p>She backs away. “Uh… you know what, I’ll find something else…”</p>
<p>Well, perhaps she is simply not used to such a great variety of food. He has been trying to introduce her, slowly, to fruits and meats she never had as a child (really, from what she tells him, he sincerely doubts that they ever really got enough of <em>anything</em>), but it is a slow process, and she is still learning to recognise what’s good and not good. He lets it go, and is pleased to see her tentatively nibbling at other, less strange-looking foods until it’s time for their departure. For some reason, she keeps checking in reflective surfaces, but that’s probably nervousness over being somewhere so crowded and noisy.</p>
<p>Something Jack ate must have disagreed with him, for he feels oddly nauseous as they enter their next mode of transportation: the giant camel-like creature on which there has been placed a large passenger compartment. Whatever it is, it seems to pass after a few moments, and he takes his place by one of the hand-holds. Ashi follows behind and places her hand below his on the old steel pole before the creature begins to move.</p>
<p>“So,” Jack begins, attempting to make casual conversation. “How did you like the –”</p>
<p>Someone jostles him, shoving him closer to the pole; behind Ashi, a tiger-headed man seems about to do the same. Instinctively, Jack puts a hand on her shoulder and pulls her out of the way. She flinches.</p>
<p>“Sorry, I –” The vehicle-creature lurches, and several others jostle Jack; he frowns. Now that he takes the time to look around there seem to be a lot more tiger-headed men than he realised at first, all dressed in the same uniform with a letter on their sweaters. The script of this modern time is somewhat difficult for Jack to decode, even after all this time, yet…</p>
<p>D-I-E.</p>
<p>That is to the left. Straight ahead, he reads:</p>
<p>S-A-M-U-R-A-I.</p>
<p>And to the right:</p>
<p>J-A-C-K.</p>
<p>“Ashi.”</p>
<p>“I see it.” She tenses. Jack is somewhat startled to realise that his hand is still on her shoulder. “We’re not alone.”</p>
<p>There is a shift of movement behind Jack and –</p>
<p>The Tiger Men start to fight.</p>
<p>One must always remember when fighting other species that their physiology, their fighting style, even their tolerance to pain might be different to humans: against the Tiger Men, Jack kicks out and up and tries to guard against the claws. It is much more difficult to punch them in the face, too: the sharp incisors are always likely to damage the punching hand. Not to mention that some of them use their tails in combat; not very strong, perhaps, in the overall effect, but effective distractions, especially when several attack at once.</p>
<p>Ashi fits well into Jack’s fighting style. She ducks and dives and jumps, complementing his movements with harmony of her own: her movements are fluid, almost as if she is shapeshifting. Like her… other father. Her mother? The answer to give Jack peace feels as though it has slipped away; oh, certainly, <em>she</em> believes it now, but Jack… Jack is confused. Now that his mind is clear again, he can see where he has jumped to conclusions, fancied resemblances that might or might not be there, convinced himself of… But what is the alternative? Her mother drinking demon juice? How on earth is that supposed to work? (Come to that, how is his ‘warrior essence’ theory supposed to work, either?)</p>
<p>He decides to focus on the fight instead. There are too many of the Tiger Men inside: he shouts, “Let’s get out of here!” and begin to fight his way towards the nearest exit. He’s not sure that Ashi has heard until she comes leaping up over him, down into the startled faces of a cluster of Tiger Men, kicking and twisting limbs and creating a convenient sort of path in the crowd. Jack doesn’t waste the chance, but follows her outside, onto the neck of the camel-creature, fighting off the green-furred horde following with claws unfurled. The beast sways.</p>
<p>“Let’s retreat!” suggests Ashi, and does as good as her word by swinging down on the reins of the beast: he follows, admiring her quick problem-solving. She’s a smart girl, and he’d flatter himself if he were to try and say she was just like him.</p>
<p>He drops into the sand next to her with a gentle <em>paf</em>. Already the camel creature is far out of the way and moving at such a pace that the tiger-creatures are out of reach.</p>
<p>“Well,” says Jack thoughtfully, “I suppose we shall have to walk.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>They walk. Jack knows, in a general sense, where the camel-beast was meant to be headed; he keeps slightly off that track, however, in case any of the green tiger-men decide to follow them after all. As they go, he explains to Ashi how he is navigating, which signs to follow when there is nothing but the sun and sand. Once that subject is exhausted, there are the best methods for finding water and shade in the desert, how to plan for a desert trip, how to ensure that there is enough water.</p>
<p>It feels… nostalgic, he supposes, being in the desert with a young woman; this time, of course, she’s fifty years younger than him and probably (maybe?) his daughter, and she hardly knows anything about the wider world. Except how to kill him, apparently. It’s a pleasure, actually, to help her learn, to guide her to greater understanding. He wonders if any of his teachers, his fathers, felt this way.</p>
<p>Eventually, they reach a small oasis, with clean enough water and cool shade and a few edible plants, as well: against the background of the desert sun, the yellow sand and the green-blue of the oasis, Jack is struck even more with how much like Ikra Ashi looks. Especially with her hair down in that style. And yet –</p>
<p>There <em>is</em> something there that is of him, he is sure of it. The look in the eyes. The smile. Perhaps even the shape of the ears. Perhaps…</p>
<p>He picks up a bunch of reeds and begins to weave himself a hat to guard against the bright sun; beside him, Ashi stares thoughtfully at his hands for a moment before picking some reeds of her own and trying to imitate him. He remembers days in the fields with his mother, how he would fumble and twist the stalks of dry grass and she would laugh: he’d had a habit of sticking his tongue out when he was concentrating. Ashi does not do that, but her hands fumble and twist the reeds just the same with an expression of great intensity.</p>
<p>“Here,” he smiles, taking the knotted tangle from her, his own hat finished and resting comfortably on his head. “Let me show you. You weave them like this, see? Around there… under… over…”</p>
<p>She copies him on a new bunch of reeds, following his motions quickly although perhaps not very precisely.</p>
<p>“My mother showed me how to make these,” he explains. “Long ago now. It is a skill passed down from her grandfather to her father, from her father to her, from her to me, and now from me to you. What do you think?”</p>
<p>Ashi looks up at him, her eyes wide, and turns back to her completed hat: slowly, reverently, she puts it on, the reed girl wearing a hat of reeds. “It’s nice.”</p>
<p>He adjusts her hat slightly. “That it is.” Yes, there is most certainly something there. The shadow of the red reeds on her face bring out her cheekbones, just as they did his mother’s. The creases round her eyes deepen when she smiles, just as his father’s did. The thought of his parents, his homeland, brings on him a sudden feeling of homesickness, lostness, loneliness. She reminds him so much of what he has lost…</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Jack and Ashi Vs Lazarus! Part 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Their journey continues onwards from the oasis with little interruption for about an hour, until at about 2 hours after noon the wind picks up, bringing with it the first flecks of sand that herald a sandstorm. Luckily, there seems to be a shelter of some sort up ahead; Jack leads Ashi towards it, knowing that they’ll need somewhere where their skin won’t be flayed off where they stand.</p>
<p>Inside is cool, a little stuffy; Ashi breathes a quiet sigh and takes off her hat to wipe the sweat from her brow. It has been rather hot in the sun, even with a little circle of shade. This… this is nice. It looks like a building, a half-buried forgotten outpost of the city behind them perhaps. It’ll do as a shelter, for now.</p>
<p>Slowly, Jack steps in, further, trying to figure out what manner of place it is; Ashi follows with her usual quiet footsteps. They enter into a long, shadowy corridor, half-lit with broken lights: there are several wide glass panels in the wall, large enough to see the rooms beyond.</p>
<p>“Looks like they were keeping things in here…” murmurs Ashi, her voice tinged with nervousness, as they pass a shattered window.</p>
<p>“Yes,” agrees Jack. “A prison, perhaps. But where are the prisoners…?”</p>
<p>“Ow!” she yelps, and: “I think I found one…”</p>
<p>He turns to find her shaking a strange leech-thing off her leg; it splats to the floor and he slices it before it can think to attack again.</p>
<p>Ashi grunts. “It’s spreading…”</p>
<p>Indeed, the green venom patch appears almost to brow before his eyes on her leg; Jack gasps. “Let me.” He wipes the wound off as best he can; then, carefully, he tears a long strip from his obi (needs must) and applies it to all around the bite area as a pressure bandage. “Do not panic, just…” He shakes his head. “Try not to move this too much. If this is a prison for those things, no doubt there is an antidote to its poison somewhere here: I will go and look for it.”</p>
<p>Ashi nods, then: “What if… what if there’s more of those things?”</p>
<p>“That is a good point.” He thinks about this for a moment, and then picks her up bodily in a princess carry. “Could you look out for them for me?”</p>
<p>“Wh- hey!” She twitches. “You could just leave me with a weapon, or something, it’s not that big of a deal…”</p>
<p>“Leave you? On your own, with limited mobility?” He shakes his head and adjusts her so that her leg is elevated. “There is no chance that I will do that. I have you now, and I will not let you go.”</p>
<p>Ashi pouts, but she doesn’t actively try to jump out of his arms, which is a big improvement in his book. Now, if he can find –</p>
<p>There is a horrifying, drawn-out screech.</p>
<p>“Risk it outside?” suggests Ashi.</p>
<p>Jack nods and turns back towards the hole through which they entered, slower now so as not to jostle Ashi. Back to where –</p>
<p>Where the hole <em>was</em>. There is another screech, much closer this time.</p>
<p>Jack turns on his heel and runs back the other way, Ashi and all. Through the long hallway full of broken windows into deserted cells, into a narrower corridor, dark and deserted, through a narrow doorway onto a catwalk. This time, the sound from behind is more like a yowl, some unholy creature intent on killing; Jack gulps and take the left catwalk. There’s a few ladders and stairs leading in various directions: he opts for the easiest to traverse with Ashi in his arms. Right, then left; up, straight ahead, up again.</p>
<p>And then he ducks through another doorway and –</p>
<p>Perhaps he shouldn’t have. The room they find themselves in is enormous, full of heavy machinery, with one tall podium on which a large, tough-looking bubble rests with all the dread power of a crown. The glass, or whatever material the bubble is made of, is shattered on one side in a very large and very dangerous-looking shape.</p>
<p>There is a <em>plop</em>. One of the small leech-creatures lands just in front of them: Jack backs away, step by step. His shoe lands in an awkward position on something slippery, and next thing he knows both he and Ashi are clattering to the ground, and suddenly there are a whole lot more of the leech-things around them. Jack, tailbone stinging, assesses the situation.</p>
<p>It doesn’t look good. It’ll be awkward to reach his sword with Ashi squashing him; getting up will also be a challenge.</p>
<p>“I could reach your sword from here…” begins Ashi, hesitantly.</p>
<p>“You shouldn’t stand or move too much,” he replies firmly.</p>
<p>She sighs. “Well, we have to get out of here somehow, and me being here isn’t doing much good. It’ll help if we can both defend ourselves. How about…”</p>
<p>And so, just a few moments later, Ashi is clinging to his back koala-style, leaving him free to use the sword and letting her use her hands to fend off whatever might come. She’s a smart one, Ashi. Jack stands, sword in one hand, making sure her injured leg is secure with the other, and faces the slowly creeping leech-creatures. It’s time to fight back.</p>
<p>The squashed leech beneath his feet is the first to attack: from just a short distance away, it lunges suddenly towards Jack’s ankle, and he slashes it quickly in half before it can even know what hit it. The rest of them hiss and change directions suddenly – they move quicker than he thought, coalescing somehow into the large shape of a horrifying creature. Jack steps back, more carefully this time, and raises the sword.</p>
<p>The creature screeches. With an inhuman, unearthly howl, groups of leeches begin to spit out from the main body; although Jack fends off most of them, it is still necessary for Ashi, too, to swat a few out of the air from behind him. He steps back again, and again the creature spits its leech-children out, again and again.</p>
<p>“There’s too many of them!” shouts Ashi, from just by his ear. “We should retreat!”</p>
<p>“But if I turn my back on them, you –”</p>
<p>“Give me the sword, then!”</p>
<p>Jack slashes through another group of leeches; next moment, very reluctantly, he passes the sword to Ashi’s outstretched hand and turns back towards the door, making sure to tighten his hold on both her legs now that the sword hand is free. And then – he runs. He hears the slashing, swiping sounds of Ashi fighting off the leech-things behind him; in front of him, a few litter the ground, and he kicks them away from him as best he can. Back through the door and out, out into the corridor, trying to find a place to hide or escape, Jack runs with Ashi clinging to his shoulder with one hand and slashing, slashing with the other. The creature’s screeches don’t get very much further away.</p>
<p>He turns corners, climbs stairs, jumps distances that he’s sure the creature will not be able to cross and yet it keeps coming, keeps following them both and shooting its leeches at them, and more leeches keep appearing from pipes and side-doors.</p>
<p>At last, he looks a door that looks more secure than the others. He presses the button that seems to be the one to open it: a thin light of some kind scans them both and after a moment, a pleasant voice from nowhere says, “Confirmed not prisoners. Enter.”</p>
<p>The door slides open, and Jack brings them both inside before it slides closed with a hiss. The room looks fairly utilitarian, but safe enough: there are a few shelves of drawers, a couple closets, a table, and strange lettering throughout marking… well, whatever’s in there. Jack deposits Ashi on a low bed-like construction next to the wall where she can reach at least one set of drawers.</p>
<p>“Don’t get up,” he tells her. “Just looks in there and see if you can find something.”</p>
<p>Ashi nods. “Got it.” For a few moments, both turn to their tasks: Jack sorts through the higher shelves, while behind him Ashi opens and closes drawers. At last:</p>
<p>“I think I found something.” She shows him: a large bottle of cool blue liquid, with a picture of one of the slug-things circled and crossed out in red. He takes it, carefully, and though the script is foreign to him there seem to be pictures depicting a green-poisoned bite, followed by someone drinking a certain amount of it.</p>
<p>“Try a little bit first,” he recommends, because what is good for some may not be good for others. “If does not make things worse, then take the full dose.”</p>
<p>She nods, takes back the bottle, and measures out a small amount with the cap. A gulp, and the mouthful is gone. There are no obvious adverse effects; for a few moments, the two of them watch each other and the bottle to see if anything horrible happens. Ashi bends down and unwraps the wound; the green patch does seem to have decreased.</p>
<p>“Well,” she says, “can’t be worse than getting poisoned by the bite, I guess.” With that, she measures out a full dose and swallows it down: almost within seconds, the green patch begins to dwindle again, and soon enough disappears completely.</p>
<p>“We’ll have to take that with us,” remarks Jack thoughtfully. “Who knows whether we’ll meet that giant mass of them again… See if you can find some way of defeating it completely.”</p>
<p>“Got it,” she nods, tucking the bottle into the leaves of her top, and goes back to rummaging. Jack turns back to his search, a strange pillar with odd buttons that must do <em>something</em> –</p>
<p>“Lazarus-92,” says a soft female voice, and a hologram lights up in front of him with a depiction of the creature. “Extremely rapid regenerative abilities; handle with care. If it becomes loose, use this weapon –” a drawer slides out beneath the hologram, and Jack picks up the small disc – “which can be activated by –”</p>
<p>There is a crash behind him. Ashi grins at him, arms full of weapons of various types. “Look what I found! We’ll be able to fight it off easy with these!”</p>
<p>“Shh!” Jack looks back at the hologram, which is depicting the disc electrifying Lazarus-92 and saying, in the same calm soft voice:</p>
<p>“—and that should destroy it.”</p>
<p>“Wait!” Jack tries to press the same button again, only to see a different creature; a different button turns it off altogether. “No, no, how do you activate the weapon?”</p>
<p>But the hologram pillar doesn’t answer.</p>
<p>“We can figure it out, right?” asks Ashi, sheepishly. “I mean, it can’t be that hard…”</p>
<p>Jack nods. It surely can’t be impossible… right?</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Featuring: The actual, genuine, medically approved first aid method for a poisonous bite. Sucking the wound is NOT recommended and Jack, as someone trained in many countries where poisonous snake bites are a thing, should know that. Because you know what ISN'T sexy? DYING OF AN INFECTED BITE IN THE DESERT because some idiot decided to suck the wound. Yes, a tourniquet and sucking can result in infection, amputation of the affected limb, and actual death! It's much better to compress the wound as much as possible and attempt to keep it elevated and still, and to take an antidote if there is one available. Also, ambulance, but Jack and Ashi don't exactly have that luxury. </p>
<p>...you can probably tell I have Strong Opinions on that Lazarus episode.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0012"><h2>12. Jack and Ashi Vs. Lazarus! Part 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>In which Ashi says 'fuck'</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Half an hour later, and yes, the little disc does seem to actually be impossible.</p>
<p>“I can’t hold ‘em off forever!” shouts Ashi, over the screeching, roaring noises of the creature – creatures? It seems able to form into multiple shapes at once – as it attacks, again and again.</p>
<p>“I know!” Jack shouts back, pressing as many of the buttons in as many combinations as he can think of. “I am trying, just – do what you can!”</p>
<p>Ashi adjust her leaf clothes and takes another swing at a mass of the leeches. “It’s not gonna work! There’s too many! I can’t –”</p>
<p>Jack slides a button to the right, presses a second button for three seconds, and flicks a switch, and –</p>
<p>“Weapon armed,” says the pleasant female voice. “Charging.”</p>
<p>“What?” Ashi yelps; a leech has landed on her skirt. She slaps it off. “How long is it going to take?”</p>
<p>“Charging, 5 per cent,” the pleasant voice replies. “One minute remaining.”</p>
<p>“Are you <em>fucking</em> serious?” Ashi growls.</p>
<p>“Ashi!” Jack frowns at her and kicks a leech out of the way. “<em>Language</em>!”</p>
<p>She rolls her eyes and squashes a pile of leeches with her shield. “Ugh, what-<em>ever</em>. We’re fighting for our fucking lives here, okay?”</p>
<p>“Do not take that tone with me, young lady!” He slices an arm off one of the creatures with his sword. “A true warrior should never speak inappropriately!”</p>
<p>“Oh yeah?” she shouts back, driving her spear into a mass of the things. “And is a ‘true warrior’ meant to fucking kill himself over one fucking mistake?”</p>
<p>Jack opens his mouth. Jack closes his mouth.</p>
<p>“Yeah, that’s what I fucking thought,” snarls Ashi.</p>
<p>“Charging complete,” says the pleasant female voice. “Ready in 5, 4, 3 –”</p>
<p>Jack and Ashi take cover. The creature rears up all around them, swamping over them and beginning to latch on with sharp painful little needle-teeth; Jack grimaces.</p>
<p>“2, 1.” Electricity rips out of the disc and over their bodies; for a few moments, all Jack can feel is that horrible buzzing, paralysing feeling all over. The creature, the leeches scream out in pain, and begin to shrivel up and die all around them, until at last the shock is over and Jack and Ashi stand up to see the carnage all around. Lazarus-92 is dead. None of the leech-things are left alive or wriggling; the poison in both Jack and Ashi’s wounds from being bitten has turned from a vile green to a slimy, slightly brown-ish grey which drips from their skin and clothes in great lumps and puddles.</p>
<p>They stare at each other in shock. Neither speaks for a long while, merely taking in the chaos around them and each other, both exhausted with clothes tattered and dead poison leaking off them. Jack clears his throat.</p>
<p>“I am,” he starts, and finds he does not know how to finish the sentence.</p>
<p>“…sorry for yelling and swearing,” Ashi says, sheepishly. “It was, you know, kinda stressful.”</p>
<p>“It was,” he replies. “For what it is worth, I deeply regret allowing the Omen to entrap me so easily. Today, though…. today you performed admirably. I am very proud.”</p>
<p>Ashi stares at him with wide, stunned eyes. “<em>You</em>… are proud of… of <em>me</em>?”</p>
<p>“Of course.” He lays a hand on her shoulder. “And I always will be.”</p>
<p>“Wow…” She gazes at him, starstruck, with the most genuine and hopeful smile he’s ever seen from her; the next moment, she throws her arms around him and squeezes tight.</p>
<p>He blinks. She’s… She’s <em>hugging</em> him. And <em>she</em> initiated it. Wow. That might just be one of the best feelings he’s had all year.</p>
<p>Needless to say, he hugs back with enthusiasm.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Eventually, they let go of each other; Jack smiles at her.</p>
<p>“Well,” he remarks, glancing at her leaves, now barely keeping her decent, “would you like to go and find new clothes for yourself? Some that are more… durable, perhaps.”</p>
<p>She looks down at herself, apparently only just noticing how bitten and frayed the leaves have become. “…Oh, yeah, these are shit. Don’t want to look shabby to meet Aku, right?”</p>
<p>“I’ll wait outside,” says Jack politely, and then: “Well, if I can still find an exit, of course…”</p>
<p>Fortunately, the exit is back where he thought it was; he climbs through carefully. The outside of the building is very odd; broken pieces hang off everywhere, and chunks stick out of the ground at odd angles. A little further, around the other side to where they entered, he finds a small waterfall, fresh and as pure as any mountain stream.</p>
<p>This will do nicely. He takes off his gi and fundoshi, cleans them as thoroughly as he can under the cooling spray, and then proceeds to clean himself, as well. By the time he is done, his clothes are dry, and he can dress with only the slightest anxiety for Ashi on her own in the abandoned prison.</p>
<p>“Well?” asks the bearded Sad Jack, looking out at him from the nearest reflective surface. “What are we going to do about her?”</p>
<p>Jack frowns. “I’m not sure. If she really is our daughter, I have a responsibility to her, but…”</p>
<p>“But what?” Sad Jack’s eyes pierce into him. “You do not suppose Aku will just let you have sole care of such a valuable pawn against you. And even if he does, what then? What happens after Aku dies? What are we supposed to do with a daughter?”</p>
<p>“I do not know,” replies Jack, and sighs. “This has never happened before.”</p>
<p>“Yes,” agrees Sad Jack. “It is not as though we were sleeping around indiscriminately.”</p>
<p>“Quite the opposite,” agrees Jack.</p>
<p>“You can name one woman in the last… what, fifty-some years who has even come close to trying.” Sad Jack fixes Jack with a serious stare. “And she was literally evil incarnate. If <em>she</em> never touched you, how do you explain Ashi?”</p>
<p>“Yes, yes, thank you, you have made your point,” replies Jack, suddenly annoyed and very tired. “We have been over this. Warrior essence. We know at least one of his minions had the power to steal and store it.”</p>
<p>Sad Jack raises an eyebrow sceptically. “And that’s different from drinking Aku’s essence… how exactly?”</p>
<p>Jack pinches the bridge of his nose. “The drinking part, probably. Look, I know, I know… but you can’t deny the resemblance any more than I can. This morning at the oasis was proof of that.”</p>
<p>“No,” says Sad Jack thoughtfully. “I wonder…”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0013"><h2>13. Jack and Ashi, Aku and Scaramouche</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Dinner that evening is a pair of horribly chewy but otherwise decent insects over the fire; Jack is perfectly content with the silence, to his own surprise, since it gives him plenty of time to think about What To Do With Ashi. Ashi herself is… less comfortable.</p>
<p>“So, uhh,” she starts, adjusting her new green outfit hesitantly, “do you ever think about, you know, where you came from? Or… <em>when</em> you came from, I guess…”</p>
<p>“All the time,” admits Jack. More often than she’ll ever know, with her face echoing long-forgotten faces from the past. “My mother, my father, my country… They occupy my thoughts often. Though, of course, the only way I can see them again is through my memories.”</p>
<p>“Friends?” she asks, quietly.</p>
<p>“A couple,” he agrees. “Of course, I was only eight when Aku returned, and after that there wasn’t exactly much time to make friends, but…”</p>
<p>“The only friends I ever had were my sisters,” Ashi says. The ones he killed, she doesn’t say, although perhaps that thought is only Jack’s own guilt rearing its ugly head. “And… I mean, the priestesses didn’t exactly <em>encourage</em> friendship. They didn’t really encourage at all.”</p>
<p>“You were vilely mistreated,” Jack tells her, and it’s the truth. “No child should be raised as you were. I… if I can make it up to you, even a little bit, I will attempt to do so.”</p>
<p>Ashi smiles suddenly, shakes her head. “You already have.”</p>
<p>“That…” Jack sits a moment in stunned but joyful silence. “That is very good to hear, Ashi. I… would very much like to continue to get to know you and try to be a good dad to you, if… if that is what you also desire.”</p>
<p>“Yeah,” she grins. “Yeah, that sounds really nice.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The next morning, the two of them set off bright and early, before it gets too hot, to journey once more towards their actual destination. It’s not too far across the desert from the strange building, and they make good time with the water they collected from the little waterfall to drink. All of their leech-bites seem to have healed admirably.</p>
<p>The robot graveyard is exactly where Jack remembers it, although this time there’s no requirement to traverse the sinking lake, the sharp-high mountains, and the endless cloud-sky: he can simply approach it from the other direction. He remembers tracing the route on a map of the area some years ago, measuring how far the great creatures took him and figuring out which route is the least complex. It’s just lucky that they happened to be in the right area.</p>
<p>It has also declined somewhat since he was last here, the rust and decay much more evident in every corner. Parts have broken off and are breaking off into the soft sand; there is also damage that he distinctly remembers causing, either in self defence or when the Guardian caused collateral damage to hit him.</p>
<p>“What… What is this place?” murmurs Ashi, her voice echoing in the hollow metal skulls all around. “Why are we here?”</p>
<p>Jack shakes his head. “You’ll see.” With that he jumps good to the top of the nearest steel carcass to get a better viewpoint; behind him, Ashi makes a serious of smaller hops to catch up with him.</p>
<p>Where is it? He’s sure it was around here somewhere…</p>
<p>But… no. No, it can’t be. There, in the little clearing just ahead of them, is a little pile of stones that might once have been the time portal he remembers so clearly; the Guardian is nowhere to be seen.</p>
<p>“It’s…gone,” he murmurs, hardly believing it. “Aku really did destroy every one.”</p>
<p>“What?” asks Ashi, only just landing neatly beside him. “Destroy what? Also, how did you jump like that?”</p>
<p>“I will teach you to jump good another time,” replies Jack, and: “Look. Down there. There was a time portal there, many years ago now, but… I did not succeed then. I thought that of all of them, he surely would not have gotten this one, but…”</p>
<p>“Oh no,” Ashi breathes. “But… it’s still okay, right? We can still fight him, right?”</p>
<p>Jack, unsure and confused, frowns.</p>
<p>“Listen,” Ashi tells him, and her assertiveness once again makes him look up and take notice. “I don’t know how, but we must have found each other for a reason, not just to kill each other. There must be a greater purpose for you to show me the truth, something I can do to help that no one else can. Let me help you find it.”</p>
<p>“Ashi, you don’t have to –”</p>
<p>“Whaeelll, well, well,” comes a sudden, awfully familiar voice from above them. “If it isn’t my favourite <em>samurai</em>.”</p>
<p>“Aku.” Jack sighs. Of course. Aku rears above them, all black shadowy essence and malevolently evil aura.</p>
<p>“He-ey, Jackie, baby,” waves Scaramouche, from just next to Aku. “Long time, no battle to the death. Oop, I forgot, I had to give head to do it, but I’m alive! Didja miss me?”</p>
<p>“Not at all,” replies Jack, truthfully. He’d forgotten about Scaramouche, actually.</p>
<p>“Oh, I see we also have a guest… Who is this small, green humanoid you have with you?” asks Aku, gesturing vaguely towards Ashi.</p>
<p>Scaramouche grins. “Oh, what a pretty little lady! I love your green top, darlin’. Are you a friend of Jackie’s? I might need to get j-e-a-l-o-u-s jealous!”</p>
<p>Ashi raises two middle fingers.</p>
<p>“She is my family,” states Jack, pretending not to notice the gesture.</p>
<p>“Really?” sneers Aku. “What are you, her… great-great-great-great…something grandfather?”</p>
<p>“…Father, I believe, is the better term,” replies Jack, calmly. “She is our daughter, Aku. Whether you wish to face up to that responsibility or not is up to you.”</p>
<p>Aku blinks a few times. “Our hwhaaat.”</p>
<p>“I gotta side with Aku here, babe,” nods Scaramouche. “Your what now?”</p>
<p>Jack puts his hand on Ashi’s shoulder. “Admit it, Aku. You somehow stole my warrior essence to create assassin children that could defeat me.”</p>
<p>Scaramouche and Aku share a sceptical glance.</p>
<p>“I told you, babe,” murmurs Scaramouche, twirling a finger around where his ear would be if he were human, “he’s wack-u, Aku.”</p>
<p>“Yes…” mutters Aku, thoughtfully. “And yet…” He bends down so that his eyes are approximately on a level with Ashi and Jack. “Hmmm…”</p>
<p>“If it helps,” says Ashi, hesitantly, “I was raised by the Cult of Aku… um, it was a cave…”</p>
<p>Aku strokes his fiery beard. “A cave, eh…”</p>
<p>“Wait, Aku, babe, you’re not actually gonna listen to this coo-coo-c’joo?”</p>
<p>“Cult of Aku… Cult of Aku…” Aku snaps his fingers a few times. “Let me see… was it by any chance an all-female cult?”</p>
<p>“Uhh…” Ashi gulps. “Yeah…”</p>
<p>“Oh yeah, I remember those bitches…” Aku’s expression becomes puzzled. He takes a sniff. “Come to think of it, there is a scent here of myself here…” A few more, smaller sniffs. “As well as of Jack, although that may just be proximity… But how could this have happened…? Oh, perhaps it was…” He taps his lip with his finger a few times. “Something like that…”</p>
<p>Scaramouche makes eye contact with Jack and makes an extremely doubtful face. “Aku, baby, don’t you wanna rethink this a little? Do you actually know how humans are made?”</p>
<p>Aku shrugs. “I always assumed that human babies just popped out of the ground."</p>
<p>“They do not,” sighs Jack.</p>
<p>“Well, go on,” prompts Aku, sounding rather bored. “Enlighten us, why don’t you.”</p>
<p>“No!”</p>
<p>“<em>I</em> know how it’s done, baby,” grins Scaramouche. “It’s –”</p>
<p>“Do not dare,” scowls Jack. “Do not even think about it.”</p>
<p>“Ach, who cares.” Aku waves a hand. “Okay, whatever, she’s our daughter, fine. We’re getting side-tracked here. What I was actually going to say was something like this…” He clears his throat and straightens up.</p>
<p>“It has been far, far too long since we last met. But you’re probably saying to yourself, why, why now, why this sudden reunion? Well –” he leans on the pile of robot detritus next to Scaramouche – “a little birdie told me…”</p>
<p>“That Samurai Jack has lost the one thing that can destroy Aku,” finishes Scaramouche smugly.</p>
<p>Jack draws the sword.</p>
<p>Aku veers back in shock. For a moment, the revelation has him completely dumbfounded; the next moment, he turns his eye lasers on Scaramouche without a second thought and destroys the robot’s head once and for all.</p>
<p>“Well then,” he remarks sourly. “Shall we get on with it?”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Only two of these individuals know how human sex works, and one of them is Scaramouche</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0014"><h2>14. Jack Vs Aku: Custody Battle!</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Ashi gets caught up in her dads' messy divorce</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Aku!” yells Jack. “You will pay for all you have done!” He swings his sword in Aku’s direction and –</p>
<p>Ashi blocks the strike.</p>
<p>“Ashi, what are you –”</p>
<p>“It’s not me!” she yelps. “I’m sorry, I – I don’t know how to stop it!”</p>
<p>“Yes, I had a thought,” remarks Aku casually. “Since my essence is imbued in her body, why not just use her to fight instead of doing it myself?”</p>
<p>Jack storms. “Oh, <em>fuck</em> you Aku.”</p>
<p>Both Aku and Ashi gasp and stare at him. Then, Ashi shakes her head briefly, and swipes her sword at Jack.</p>
<p>“I – I can’t control it!” Ashi protests, as her weapon flies towards him. “I’m sorry, I –”</p>
<p>“You can fight it, Ashi!” he replies, dodging and ducking as best he can without falling off the robot. “You can resist his control! I know you can!”</p>
<p>“You can’t,” grins Aku, apparently recovered from his shock. “I control you now. You are my puppet, uh, Osha or whatever your name is.”</p>
<p>Jack growls and tries to stride towards Aku with an “Aku!” – but, no, Ashi blocks that as well, pushing him away with inhuman strength.</p>
<p>“Oh dear,” Aku shrugs. “I guess you’ll have to fight her after all.”</p>
<p>Jack grits his teeth. “Ashi, please. You have good in you. You can fight this, if you are my daughter. You don’t have to fight me –”</p>
<p>“I cant!” she whimpers, her sword crashing down towards him. “Dad, please, I can’t! Please! Please, just kill me and then you can defeat Aku!”</p>
<p>“Phew,” chuckles Aku. “Talk about a custody battle, eh? Come on, Natasha, you know you take after your <em>real</em> daddy, so bring out your best!”</p>
<p>Blackness suddenly begins to crawl up from her black boots and from the tips of her fingers, taking up more and more of her skin like the dark substance that covered her when she first met. It reaches her neck, and from the beads of sweat in her brow and the strain in her expression Jack can tell that she’s struggling, can tell that’s she’s doing everything in her power to fight it off, but to no avail. With one last, sudden push, it washes over her face and head entirely.</p>
<p>“Ashi?” he tries, hopelessly. “Ashi, please, if you can hear me in there, please, you are good, you don’t have to give in to his power. The true Ashi I know would never –”</p>
<p>Long, black horns sprout from either side if her head. With a slow yet inevitable movement, two blank white eyes open where her eyes were, the same eyes that took after his now eclipsed by the shadow of Aku. She blinks, and her flaming eyebrows spring to life.</p>
<p>Black and white and red all over.</p>
<p>Oh, <em>no</em>.</p>
<p>She attacks, her sword beginning to flame in her hand; it is all Jack can do to stay on the defence, to not get hit. It would truly be the irony of a millennia if he was killed by his own daughter <em>now</em>. She’s so fast, so strong, and only some of it is enhanced by Aku’s control; her sword clashes against his over and over in a flurry of sparks and flames.</p>
<p>Jack grunts. He doesn’t want to hurt her, but… He goes on the attack again, moving forward to try and do… something. He’s not sure. Perhaps if her sword is broken…? He advances, cutting overhead and under, putting as much force as possible into destabilising her sword and getting it to – possibly – maybe – potentially –</p>
<p>Shatter. It splinters under his katana, and before he can stop his swing his sword curves through and cuts into her arm. The blackness burns at the edges, just as Aku’s being does when the sword touches it; Ashi’s face, her true face, appears from under the black mask, gasping and crying.</p>
<p>“Please, dad,” she sobs, “please kill me, it hurts, it hurts, <em>please</em>! Kill me and take out Aku!”</p>
<p>“I –” Jack stares in horror into her tearful eyes. “I –” He lowers his sword. “I cannot do that. I am so sorry, Ashi, please forgive me, I cannot kill you, please, I know you are trying to resist it, I know you can get through this, but I cannot kill you. Not after everything.” The katana drops from his hand and clatters on the ground. “I cannot.”</p>
<p>“Aaaauuughhh—” Her scream, horrifying and anguished, is covered up quickly by the renewed darkness that covers her face in a wave; the blank-faced, white-eyed abomination takes a moment to reset herself. She focuses back on Jack. Quickly, her hands sharpen into spears, which she points at Jack. Before he can take a moment to process everything that’s happening, a sharp point presses against his neck. Dark Ashi looks up at her other father, waiting for his approval.</p>
<p>“Hmmm…” murmurs Aku. “It looks like you could take him, but… no, I think I have a better idea. The <em>samurai</em> won’t defend himself, will you, <em>samurai</em>? Oh dear, can’t do the dirty deed of killing your daughter. Even I could do that, if I wanted, but I’m not going to. You know what I’ll do?”</p>
<p>He leans down gleefully and takes the sword carefully between two sharp claws, making sure to hold it by the hilt so that the blade doesn’t damage him. “I’ll take this, thank you, and… You, Tushy, just capture him for now. I’m hatching up some lovely plans for his death…”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0015"><h2>15. The Final Battle Part 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Long ago, in a distant land, I, Aku, the <em>shape-shifting</em> master of darkness, unleashed an <em>unspeakable</em> evil. But a <em>foolish</em> samurai warrior wielding a magic sword came forth to oppose me. Before the final blow was struck, I <em>tore</em> open a portal in time and <em>flung</em> him into the future, where my evil is law. Now the fool seeks to return to the past, and <em>undo</em> the future that is Aku…” Aku hesitates and grins at the screen. “But he never will, because oh, look what we have here?”</p>
<p>He turns to where he has hung Jack and the sword decoratively in the Pit of Hate and gesture to Jack proudly. “The <em>samurai</em> himself, all caught in my web.” He laughs malevolently. “Oh yes, my loyal and not-so-loyal subjects, let this be a lesson to you all. <em>This</em> is what happens to anyone who dares defy me and my rule; none, not even your legendary samurai, can save you from the greatness of Aku!”</p>
<p>He folds his arms behind his back. “And now, I think you’ve understood my point. That said, I think it’s time to get this troublesome samurai out of the way for good. Naturally, I desire an audience, so, as a gift to all my terrorised subjects, I will be broadcasting the death of Samurai Jack over my entire empire, to everyone who thought they could ever be allowed to have hope. Right here, right now.”</p>
<p>Aku glances at Jack, who no longer has any strength to move; realising the enormity of his decision not to kill Ashi, and knowing the probable impact of if he <em>had</em> killed Ashi, has sapped him of everything. To kill or not kill his own daughter, who is also Aku’s daughter, when he has already killed the other six, when the fate of the world hangs on his shoulders no matter what he does… He has broken. Balance or not, there is nothing left to hope for.</p>
<p>“Now…” murmurs Aku. “How should I do this? I’ve been thinking about this for so long…” He shapes his fist into an axe, then a complex guillotine, then a noose. “Hmm. Ugh, isn’t it always the way, you set about to kill someone and you just can’t pick out how to do it…?” The noose becomes a knife, becomes a gun, becomes a spear. Then: “Actually…”</p>
<p>Aku glances at Ashi, standing guard just as he left her when they got here, expressionless black face staring blankly out at the camera. “Now that’s an interesting idea… Hey, you, whats-your-name, uhh…. Yoshi? Why don’t you kill him for me?”</p>
<p>Ashi blinks once and nods. Immediately her had shape-shifts into a spear; slowly, with stilted steps, she walks over to Jack.</p>
<p>“Ashi, please…” Jack gasps. “Ashi… please, you don’t have to do this… Listen to me, Ashi…”</p>
<p>She cocks her head to one side.</p>
<p>Jack looks into those blank, soulless eyes. “I know you’re in there, Ashi. You don’t want to do this. Please, Ashi, you can break free of this! You can break free of <em>him</em>!”</p>
<p>She blinks. Then, her hand-spear drives towards him, quicker, and this time there are no last-minute saves, no miraculous changes of heart from Aku, this time it really is the end of –</p>
<p>There is a sudden <em>boom</em>. Aku shrieks, and Demon-Ashi hesitates. Over the top of Aku’s lair come rocket ships and white apes and arrows and loud music and – is that the Robo-Samurai? Its name, Jack suddenly remembers, the name that only he knows from his time connected to its mental circuits, is Star Platinum.</p>
<p>His friends. The men and women, the robots and aliens, the individuals of every hue and description who have asked or needed his help over the decades, here, now, somehow. <em>They</em> are here to save <em>him</em>. He doesn’t deserve it, but…</p>
<p>Jack suddenly realise that neither Demon Ashi nor Aku is paying attention to him, and wastes no time breaking out of his chains. Now, to get to the sword –</p>
<p>Ashi steps in front of him, as if to say: going somewhere? She shape-shifts another flaming sword, but this time Jack is prepared for that. He begins to dodge and dive, doing his best to stay away from the flaming blade while also getting closer to his own weapon, but Ashi continues to catch him out, to block his path. It would have seemed hopeless once more, perhaps, if it were not for a sudden onslaught of hollering Scottish maidens pouring in through every hole, lead by an extremely familiar…</p>
<p>“Ghost?” splutters Jack, as soon as he recognises the Scotsman. “You! But you’re… you’re dead?”</p>
<p>The Scotsman grins in his ugly broken-toothed way and blocks an attack from Ashi with his sword. “Aye, a little bit,” he agrees casually. “Celtic magic, laddie! A had ta come an’ get <em>yoo</em>!”</p>
<p>“For which I am most grateful,” replies Jack politely, as the young Scottish maidens being to attack Ashi in order to distract her. “It has been a long time, my old friend, much too long.”</p>
<p>“Aye,” agrees the Scotsman, “and you havenae changed a bit! Ah, some have all th’luck.”</p>
<p>“Believe me,” replies Jack, “that, at least, was not very lucky for me… But how is your wife, if I may ask?”</p>
<p>The Scotsman smiles, doe-eyed. “Aye, she’s as bonnie as ever. Age cannae change her beauty, not a bit. Och, she’s the light of ma life… that is, ma death…” He shrugs. “Ah wheel. I’m gonna get this Aku to heel if it kills me twice, eh laddie?”</p>
<p>“Er…” says Jack. “Right.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>A JoJo reference? In my Samurai Jack fanfic? It's more likely than you'd think</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0016"><h2>16. Jack and the Scotsman: Daughter Competition!</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>a whole chapter of pure Jack and Scotsman banter because the Scotsman is iconic</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“By the way,” remarks Jack casually to the Scotsman, “there seems to be a large tribe of Scottish maidens under your command.”</p>
<p>The Scotsman laughs. “Ach, yes, these’re ma daughters, ma pride an’ joy! There’s Flora –” Once he begins to list the many, many names of his daughters, Jack begins to feel a little dizzy and overwhelmed; at some point, he feels that the Scotsman has fizzled out.</p>
<p>“So many,” he says, helplessly.</p>
<p>“Aye, we’re verra prood, noo doubt about it!” The Scotsman winks at him. “In fact, A was thinkin’ ye could marry one – tek yer pick!”</p>
<p>“Uh…” Jack shook his head. “I am sure they would not want to marry me, considering my somewhat vagrant lifestyle. By the way,” he adds, before the Scotsman can think to protest, “have you met <em>my</em> daughter?”</p>
<p>“Ye have a daughter?” cries the Scotsman incredulously. “A thought ye weren’t the type for sprogs, laddie?”</p>
<p>“Yes, well…” Jack gestures over to the unspeakable evil that is currently making a spirited attempt to murder the Scotsman’s daughters.</p>
<p>“<em>That’s</em> yer daughter?”</p>
<p>“She’s, um… going through a phase.”</p>
<p>“Aye, A can see that,” concedes the Scotsman. “Phasin’ right through the wall, an’ all. But…” He grins and a devilish look comes into his eye. “A think when it comes to the number of kids we have, A’ve got you beat this time for sure.”</p>
<p>“Another competition?” Jack chuckles. “I would not be so sure. Ashi is larger than all of your daughters combined.”</p>
<p>The giant mass of black looms over the Scotsman’s many daughters, as if to prove his point.</p>
<p>“Aye, true enough,” replies the Scotsman. “But there’s only the one o’her, an’ that’s the important part.”</p>
<p>Jack smirks. “Not at all, my friend. Ashi had six sisters.”</p>
<p>“Six? <em>Had</em>?” The Scotsman’s nose flairs. “What happened to them, then?”</p>
<p>“Oh, I…” Jack looks away and hangs his head. “I killed them. But –” he adds, before the Scotsman can yell at him – “that was before I knew they were my daughters. It was before I even knew they were human.”</p>
<p>The Scotsman spares a glance for the black mass currently terrorising his daughters. “Aye,” he agrees, “A can see where ye might have made that mistake. Well, anywa’… Yer daughter cannae compare to ma little heather blossoms! They’ll make short work o’ her, nae doubt!”</p>
<p>“On the contrary, my friend, it is your daughters who will surely fall to my little, um…” Jack hesitates. “My little eldritch abomination.”</p>
<p>“Yer callin yer bairn an eldritch abomination?”</p>
<p>“Well, um…” Jack looks at the multi-tentacled creature with flaming eyebrows flinging the Scotsman’s daughters around like rag dolls. “I am somewhat new to all of this. Do you have any better suggestions?”</p>
<p>The Scotsman thinks about it. “Nae, laddie, it’s accurate enough. Ach, just like their old pappies, eh?” He makes to clap Jack on the back, but misses and waves a hand <em>through</em> Jack instead. “Fightin’ at first, but A’m sure they’ll make up an’ be the best o’friends, just like us, eh laddie?”</p>
<p>“I am sure of it,” agrees Jack politely, as Ashi attempts to turn her laser eyes on several Scottish maidens.</p>
<p>“By th’ wae, A'll be honest with ye, laddie, 'cause that's the kinda friendship we have, but..." The Scotsman scratches his ghostly head. "A dinnae really see the resemblance."</p>
<p>"…She takes after the other side."</p>
<p>"An' just wha' is that other side, then?"</p>
<p>Jack glances up shamefully at the intimidating mass of Aku, focused now on attacking all the friends Jack has made since his entry into the future.</p>
<p>The Scotsman follows his gaze. “Ye’ve <em>got</em> to be kidding me.”</p>
<p>“Believe me, I heartily wish it was otherwise.”</p>
<p>“<em>He’s</em> the other side?”</p>
<p>“It is… complicated.”</p>
<p>“Nae kidding! That’s one <em>hell</em> o’an ex! When ye said ye were Aku’s most wanted man A didnae think <em>that</em> was what ye meant!”</p>
<p>“That is not how it is, I –”</p>
<p>“Och aye, whatever ye say, laddie.” The Scotsman winks at him gleefully. “A reckon A had a fair few regrettable flings in ma time before A met ma bonnie wife, it’s perfectly natural…”</p>
<p>Jack gapes at him. “Not with <em>him</em>! He has been my mortal enemy since I was born!”</p>
<p>“Wheel, ye know wha’ they say, laddie..” The Scotsman grins. “Opposites attract, an’ all that.”</p>
<p>“They most certainly do not!”</p>
<p>“They <em>can</em>, though.”</p>
<p>“I don’t –”</p>
<p>Luckily, just then a falling piece of burning spaceship falls almost on top of them both, and effectively puts an end to <em>that</em> conversation.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0017"><h2>17. The Final Battle Part 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Jack, released from the increasingly awkward conversation with the Scotsman’s ghost, runs towards Ashi to help the Scottish maidens in their battle. Ashi has gone full tentacle horror, a buxom maiden in at least ten of her long black tendrils and weapons in each of the others, eyebrows flaming, eyes lasering left and right. His own sword, unfortunately, is behind her somewhere, or maybe she has it somehow, somewhere Jack can’t see it.</p>
<p>Well, he’ll just have to find out the hard way.</p>
<p>Jack charges towards her, though if Aku is any indication there’s no way to harm Ashi without the sword, and kicks one Scottish maiden – Agnes? – out of Ashi’s grasp. The tentacle recoils before whipping out to catch Jack’s ankle in mid-air; Jack grabs on, trying to prise the blackness off him, but it’s too late. She is already absorbing him.</p>
<p>“Ashi!” he yells once again, struggling to keep his head and mouth free of the black matter. “Ashi, please! I know you are in there! You don’t have to do this!” She’s not going to listen. She hasn’t been able to resist, she can’t – and yet, he has to try, to dive closer to her heart. “Ashi, Ashi, my dearest daughter, please… I… I love you!”</p>
<p>Something shifts in the centre of the black mass. Suddenly, the tentacles around him begin to shrink and decrease; a dark-haired head, instantly recognisable, rises up out of the sludge.</p>
<p>“Ashi!” he shouts, clambering towards her through the melting black. “<em>Ashi</em>!”</p>
<p>The black melts away from her face, and her eyes, her real, beautiful eyes, open at last. A moment later, she’s running towards him, her body back to the black outfit she had on when they first met. “<em>Dad</em>!”</p>
<p>Ashi, the real, genuine, human Ashi, throws her arms around his neck, her tears dripping onto his gi, and Jack embraces her gladly. “You did it. Ashi, you really did it, you broke free of his control, I am so proud of you, Ashi…”</p>
<p>“I n-nearly k-killed you!”</p>
<p>“But you did not go through with it, and I am still alive.” He strokes her back, up, down. “I forgive you, Ashi. You did not do it of your own accord.”</p>
<p>“I – I –” Ashi sniffles. “Aku isn’t my father, not in the real way. Not in the way that matters. You taught me s-so much and I – I love you too, dad.”</p>
<p>“Well, well, what do we have here,” interrupts Aku, suddenly close to them and extremely unimpressed. “What’s this? My own daughter, betraying me for the <em>samurai</em>? Tch! You can’t escape me, Mash Potatoes!”</p>
<p>“My name,” shouts Ashi, “is <em>Ashi</em>! And I’ll <em>never</em> be a daughter to you! You can’t control me anymore, Aku!”</p>
<p>Aku growls and focuses his eye-lasers on her; but she has a retort, her own lasers shooting out of her eyes to meet his in mid-air. Aku growls and drives a spear-hand towards her abdomen: she doesn’t so much as flinch, merely allowing a hole to appear through her body so that she doesn’t get a scratch. With an extending arm, she reaches out to Jack’s sword, still hanging on the wall, and tosses it to Jack.</p>
<p>Jack grins. “All right, Aku. It’s time to end this.”</p>
<p>“It’s no use, <em>samurai</em>,” scowls Aku. “You will never win against me. Your friends are dying around you. You have no chance of returning to the past. I have already won.”</p>
<p>"Wait a minute," Ashi retorts, and smiles at Jack with a sudden heart-breaking look on her face. "I finally figured out what I was really born for."</p>
<p>"What?" Jack stares at her. "Ashi, what are you saying? Why are you looking at me like –”</p>
<p>Her face is beatific, finally peaceful. "I inherited some powers from Aku, didn't I?"</p>
<p>It takes Jack a few moments to parse out what Ashi means, and when he does he blinks: "Ashi, wait –”</p>
<p>"Bye, Dad," she says, and screams open a portal into the past, where Aku's evil is not law yet. "I love you..."</p>
<p>The last thing Jack sees as he tumbles into the past is Ashi, and behind her Aku, and around them all the hundreds of friends he has made along the way: his friends' expressions are hopeful, joyful; Aku's expression much less so. And then -</p>
<p>The portal shuts behind him, and he has no choice. He's gotta go back, back to the past... Samurai Jack.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Through and down in the ever-changing flashing time tunnel he falls, barely remembering to hold onto his sword. He can’t believe Ashi sent him back alone, did not come back with him; surely she said she wanted to follow all the way? And yet… and yet, he knows that this is what she meant when she said that there was some destined reason for the two of them to meet: it is her responsibility, her gift, to put him back where he belongs where Aku ripped him away.</p>
<p>And so, as the other end of the portal opens up beneath it and he prepares himself, he vows to honour her decision, her sacrifice, even if no one in this time knows her name. He will remember his daughter.</p>
<p>He emerges back in Aku’s lair as it was back then (not that Aku changed the décor much over the centuries), sword already swinging down towards the great black mass of Aku.</p>
<p>“Whaaat?” splutters Aku. “You’re back already?”</p>
<p>“I am back,” confirms Jack, and slashes down through the centre of Aku with the first, immensely satisfying cut. Aku screams. Jack cuts, again, again, slicing through one side and the other, this direction and that; Aku has no defence now, his shadowy substance reducing cut by cut as his essence burns.</p>
<p>Aku yelps and begins to slither away, half-formed; Jack chases him down and drives the point of the sword into the centre of him. Aku screeches and seems to disappear; it’s a trick Jack is familiar with, where Aku clings to the outside of the sword and tries not to let Jack see him. Jack plunges the sword into the ground, so that Aku has no choice but to reform into an ugly black puddle beneath his feet.</p>
<p>“You are finished, Aku,” Jack growls, raising the sword one last time. “This is for our daughter.”</p>
<p>“Our hwhaa—” Jack drives the sword into him, once and for all, and the last scrap of Aku is destroyed forever.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0018"><h2>18. Epilogue: Prince Junpei</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It is two years after the death of Aku. The brush strokes gently across the paper. Prince Junpei pauses, thinks a moment, and then adds another line.</p>
<p>It is of Ashi. The last and most important of the portraits that he has drawn for himself now that Aku is dead and gone. He has drawn her in every way which she appeared to him: the pointy hair, the brushed-down hair, the eldritch abomination. It helps him to remember. The future is out of his reach; now that he has started aging again, he knows he will never return to that distant time. This… this is his reminder.</p>
<p>He sits back, waiting for the scroll to dry. Further back, other faces from his time in the future smile back at him: the Scotsman, Woolies, the Wild Man who taught him to jump good, even his first allies the talking dogs. He has drawn all of them, and transcribed their names or titles onto the paper as best he can in kana. He intends to make a shrine for them: even if they live again in the future, they will be different without the influence of Aku, and the least he can do is remember their lives as they were – as they would have been, could have been if things had gone differently.</p>
<p>His allies. His friends. And now, his daughter, the child of the reeds.</p>
<p>“Watch over me,” he prays quietly, to their silent faces. “I will see you again one day.”</p>
<p>Outside, he can see the grassy hills and gentle cherry-blossom trees of his kingdom, the slowly-repairing houses, the fields of rice and other crops being tended. There has been a lot of work to do, a lot of healing. He has been helping everywhere he can, just as he did in the future.</p>
<p>“Not yet, though,” he adds, quietly. “There is still so much to do…”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>So, there you have it. Thanks for reading, everyone, and I hope you enjoyed this take even if you do ship Jashi. &lt;3</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>